Embedded development: seven reasons to avoid open source software

　　 Many people may think that open source software is the greatest thing in the history of this industry ! Free of charge ! Why on earth should we avoid open source software ? This may surprise some readers , But although we love “ Open source ” and “ The free software ”, Embedded developers should consider several reasons to justify avoiding open source software .

　　 reason 1– Accidental exposure of confidential intellectual property

　　 Developers often think that all open source software is free , There are no strings attached . The problem is that this is not the case . Open source software developers use several different licensing schemes . However , There are also licenses that require any modifications , Even related software should be released as open source software . If you don't pay close attention , Then developers may find that they have to release confidential code and algorithms to the outside world . Free software only makes companies pay the price of disclosing code , Or if they want to be protected , They now need to pay for lawyers , To ensure that they do not use “ free ” Software and give up everything .

　　 Make sure if you want to use open source software , You have to calculate the lawyer's fees to prove your innocence .

　　 reason 2—— Designed for functionality rather than robustness

　　 Open source software is usually written by function . Access and write SD card . adopt USB signal communication . The problem here is , Although its functional code is usually not robust , And hope the wrench will never be thrown on the gear . This rarely happens , Although the software is free , But developers will soon find that their open source software is only functional , Unable to bear the pressure of the real world .

　　 reason 3—— Lack of traceable software development lifecycle

　　 Software is developing , But it doesn't really follow the traceable design cycle , Not even following best practices . These different embedded developers implement what they want , Or push the code to meet their needs . The result is that the software works in limited circumstances and environments , Users need to pray that their needs and conditions match them .

　　

　　 reason 4—— Lack of automated or manual testing

　　 Yes , This may be a thorny problem , Because many engineers and customers do not use automated testing . A formal testing process , Especially automated testing , It is crucial to ensure that a code base is robust and of sufficient quality to meet its requirements . But for low-level firmware and embedded systems , We still seem to lag behind the rest of the software industry . Without automated testing , We cannot know whether integrating open source components destroys some of them , We won't notice until we enter production .

　　 reason 5—— Poor quality or complete lack of documentation

　　 Documents are getting better and better in open source projects that have existed for a long time or have strong commercial support . Although smaller projects driven by individuals tend to have little or no documentation . If open source code has no documentation , Putting it into practice or debugging will be a nightmare , And more expensive than just getting commercial or industrial software .

　　 reason 6– Lack of real-time support

　　 Few things frustrate embedded developers more than trying hard to make something work or debug but hitting a wall . When this happens , The best way to solve the problem is to seek support . The problem with open source is , There is no guarantee that you will get the support you need to solve any problems in time . Of course , There are forums and social media for help , But these are manipulated by people who give up their free time to help solve problems . If they don't have time to delve into a problem , Or the problem is not interesting or too complicated , Then developers can only rely on themselves .

　　 reason 7—— Integration is never as simple as it seems

　　 Download the source code and start the integration . After a few months , Integration is still going on . Things that seem simple quickly become complicated , Because the same platform or tool chain is not used , Must be carried out “ minute ” modify .

　　 Conclusion

　　 I have no objection to open source software , In some cases , This is very useful and beneficial . It's important not to just use software , Because it is free and open source . Embedded developers need to recognize their needs 、 And the level of robustness required by their products , And appropriately develop or purchase software that meets these needs .