Quote:
Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man
The point is that none of these terms are necessarily set in stone. The Kobo OS could be called embedded because it is specialized, purpose-built software as opposed to a general purpose computing platform.
|
No, the definition of "operating system" is well defined and set in stone. An OS is the program or programs which control the computer's hardware and provide access to that hardware to higher level programs (applications).
No, the Kobo OS is not specialized. It's a full Linux kernel and Busybox which is one of the most generalized, generic operating systems you can find today. Case in point: every Android device in the world uses this foundation.
Maybe, the Kobo firmware as a whole (OS plus applications) could be called embedded but not because of the software. Because the hardware is specialized and purpose built. Although in practice these devices (tablets, smartphones, readers) are more sophisticated and capable than traditional embedded systems ("dumb" phones, programmable thermostats, manufacturing controls and such) so I refer to them as "computing appliances". The distinction in my mind is that computing appliances could be used as general purpose computers whereas embedded systems cannot.
Quote:
|
But this is getting all very nitpicky. I'm just curious why there are so many persistent bugs in the Kobo software despite years of development, and the answer seems to be not enough resources to do better, which isn't an entirely satisfactory answer.
|
Because... re-read davidfor's and my answers because that's the reality of it. The OS is solid, the applications less so for reasons we described.