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Embedded Systems Europe
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These are my own personal views and not those of my company Phaedrus Systems see www.phaedsys.com which is where the full version of this column, with links etc, resides under the Documents tab.
Well so far no excommunication from the BCS or IET after last months rant re their lack support for Bletchley Park, the birthplace of computers! Bletchley Park have now set up on Tipjoy: a site which enables you to give very small amounts of money very quickly and easily (1minute) to causes you care about.
I am still getting feedback on my comments on Open Source.
The result as far as I can see is that “If you distribute an app that includes an LGPL library then you must also distribute the full sources for that library, not just the modifications. You must also distribute your application in such a way that the end user can rebuild the library and make your app use the rebuilt library.” DLL’s were suggested but for most embedded systems that is not practical.
So if you use a GCC compiler with LGPL it appears you will have to make the object code of your embedded application available so you can re-link it to the LGPL library. Also, any distribution of GPL'd binaries requires likewise distribution of those binaries' complete sources, modified or not. Thus it appears that any embedded system that uses a GCC compiler will have to come with a CD containing the application object code and the compiler libraries used in source form….
Though as I understand it if you use normal GPL libraries not LGPL you will have to release the source of your application anyway. What with GPL V2, GPL V3, LGPL, AGPL and FDL along with various modified versions it is turning some major users of Open Source off it and quickly. It’s not too surprising when you see the FSF web page and the list of people FSF are taking to court for getting it wrong… “free” Open Source software can be very expensive. Also they now have pages on how to report violations, so if you use Open Source it may be worth looking at to see that you are clean before some one else does. http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licesnses/gpl-violations.html. There is a short 50 page guide to Open Source licenses there as well.
BTW the choice is not Free Open Source Software or Closed Source there are many other models of licensing programs and source in use.
I got the latest version of the perennial computer data story from the BBC < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/wales/8036324.stm > Saying “Missile data found on hard drives”! Sensitive information for shooting down inter-continental missiles as well as bank details and Health/doctors records found on old disks from UK, America, Germany, France and Australia. The researchers got a hit rate or 34% on the 300 hard disks bought randomly at computer fairs and an online auction sites. They say the information was enough to expose individuals and firms to fraud and identity theft not to mention loss of IP.
A Friend of mine was given an old company computer to do some admin work from home. A year later when she left the company they said she could keep it. She, not her company asked me to “clean up the hard disk” so there was more space on it. To her surprise we found a lot of very sensitive company data and financial reports on the drive. She had no idea it was there. There were also the accounts for several small other local companies… The part time Financial Director who had the computer at one point did some external accountancy work it seems.
I had a recycled laptop and to my embarrassment whilst poking round the hard drive, Engineers tend to do that when the get a second hand computer, came across a whole load of very personal correspondence between a director and his partner written during their break up. No point in saying it here but managers who get computers should realize that when they up-graded and pass them down to other staff eventually it will end up in the hands of a computer literate technician who WILL trawl though the hard drive to see what is there. It is an ironic fact of life that in general the less computer literate get the more powerful machines.
The lessons are do not put any personal data you don’t want the whole company to see on a work computer
When transferring computers clean the hard drive… reformat and re-install the OS is a good start. Besides it kills any malware and viruses better than any AV software. When scrapping computers remove the hard disks and put a hammer or drill through them. Make sure the people doing it are supervised lest they think it is a waste and their mates end up with them.
Standards work is progressing on several fronts. The ISO C panel is moving towards a replacement for C99. This is not due before 2011. As I have said in the past the current ISO C 9899:1999 may be the standard that never was as in real terms no compilers fully implement it and are not likely to before the next standard comes out. I am reliably informed that the next C standard will be far more in tune with what the industry needs. I did see a proposal that they should drop any feature not implemented by at least two mainstream compilers. I am hopeful that the next C standard will be a bit slimmer and one that people actually need.
On the other hand the next ISO C++ standard seems to be heading off into uncharted territory and may become the C99 of the C++ world. There is some disquiet in some of the working groups so hopefully sense will prevail and some of the more esoterical concepts will disappear. There was a suggestion that Garbage Collection should be incorporated. This will, I am informed by wiser heads, make C++ non deterministic and unsuitable for high reliability or safety critical work. OK… the Ada/Spark people can sit down… It will make it “more unsuitable”…
C is suitable for safety critical work because it is a small language from which you can use sensible subsets and have automated checking. The problem with C++ is the language is an order of magnitude more complex, and so are the tools. Making them far more difficult to test and validate.
The MISRA teams have been working hard, much of it of being admin and internal structures. It has grown from an ad-hoc system into something far more professional for a multi standard system. The first MISRA-C was just the last of 10 reports. As one of the original team said it went far beyond anything we could have ever dreamed and it has been like holding a tiger by the tail. Well the tiger is now in the cage and house trained! In fact I think we can safely say that the MISRA teams now have a system and infrastructure that is better than the ISO system!
The MISRA-Autocode team are expecting to release two documents GMG and SLSF “this summer”. In the UK summer is when the rain is warm! However it should be before September. Keep an eye on the MISRA web site www.misra.org.uk from June onwards.
MISRA has also started a new panel “Languages”. This will look at generic safety and security problems in programming along with harmonising things between the various MISRA language standards. I.e. There will be a common Glossary and definitions between all the MISRA standards. Much of the early work will be internal but there will be a published MISRA-Languages document in three years (so the plan says) on generic vulnerabilities in programming from both the safety and security aspects. The team will initially be drawn from the members of the current MISRA-teams.
If anyone is interested in working on MISRA-C++ give me a call. The MISRA-C++ team is looking for a few good people to help with the next version. With the new systems in place much work can be done remotely but you will still need to attend some meetings in the UK near Birmingham.
Finally, whilst we are on about re-installing Operating Systems: something to warm your heart… Microsoft UK's director, Mr Curran, said that the Microsoft Windows team had been poring over every aspect of the [Vista replacement, Windows 7] operating system to make improvements. "We were able to shave 400 milliseconds off the shutdown time by slightly trimming the WAV file shutdown music.” I’m convinced…. Sign me up!
Author Details and contact
Eur Ing Chris Hills BSc CEng MIET MBCS MIEEE FRGS FRSA is a Technical Specialist and can be reached at This Contact
Copyright Chris A Hills 2003 -2008
The right of Chris A Hills to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988