Often, drivers, middleware, utilities and applications are developed for Linux first and ported to other platforms later. MontaVista Hard Hat Linux Hard Hat Linux is not just another general-purpose Linux distribution. It is designed for the scalability, dependability and performance required of well-designed embedded systems. Hard Hat Linux supports these and also adds architectures on a continual basis. Hard Hat Linux supports a variety of capabilities exclusively for embedded applications.
Headless operation enables the embedding of Linux in a video display, keyboard or mouse.
Networks can be installed and booted without the need for rotating media. The Flash memory file system supports rugged solid-state storage. Finally, run-time instrumentation makes it easy to monitor system integrity and performance. While still at Ready Systems, he foresaw that Linux would become an important factor in the embedded market.