Rich meal on open source market with embedded techniques

Embedded platform distributions – To eat or not eat?

Evaluating options, refining the OSS palate

Finding potentially useful code represents only half the challenge. Developers must also vet discovered code across a variety of parameters to determine if it is technically and legally viable. Factors to consider include code size, language, and quality; community history and dynamics; software licensing; and provenance.

Code size – Legacy embedded designs face severe constraints on code size. While tumbling DRAM and flash memory prices have made parsimonious provisioning a concern of the past, embedded software still benefits from compact code. Memory and storage eaten up by utility and infrastructure code are unavailable for differentiating software and for end-user content.

Because OSS starts with source code, the memory footprint of a given project or softwarecomponent isn’t always obvious. Moreover, today’s device-based software stacks can contain ingredients cooked up in traditional compiled/assembled languages (C, C++, assembly), byte-code executed Java, and scripted/interpreted languages (PHP, Python, Lua, and so on).

refer to: http://embedded-computing.com/articles/eating-open-source-buffet/#at_pco=cfd-1.0