If programmers at Apple had simply followed a couple of the rules in the Embedded C Coding Standard, they could have prevented the very serious `Gotofail` SSL bug from entering the iOS and OS X operating systems. Here’s a look at the programming mistakes involved and the easy-to-follow coding standard rules that could have easily prevent the bug. In case […]
Tag: opensource
Intellectual Property Protections for Embedded Software: A Primer
My experiences as a testifying expert witness in numerous lawsuits involving software and source code have taught me a thing or two about the various intellectual property protections that are available to the creators of software. These are areas of the law that you, as an embedded software engineer, should probably know at least a […]
Dead Code, the Law, and Unintended Consequences
Dead code is source code that is not executed in the final system. It comes in two forms. First, there is dead code that is commented out or removed via #ifdef’s. That dead code has no corresponding form in the binary. Other dead code is present in the binary but cannot be or is never […]
Trends in Embedded Software Design
In many ways, the story of my career as an embedded software developer is intertwined with the history of the magazine Embedded Systems Design. When it was launched in 1988, under the original title Embedded Systems Programming (ESP), I was finishing high school. Like the vast majority of people at that time, I had never heard the […]
Tools to Detect Software Copyright Infringement
An emerging class of tools makes it easy to automatically detect copying of copyrighted software source code, even if it came from one of the hundreds of thousands of open source packages. I am presently providing litigation support in a case of alleged software copyright infringement. In a nutshell, the plaintiff brought suit against the […]
Free as in, well, Free Software
There’s no such thing as free beer. But free software abounds. It seems that everywhere I look these days companies are offering their embedded operating systems and tools for free evaluation. Often, the price includes full access to the source code. Examples just this week include the announcement that Quantum Leaps would make the source code for […]
Open Sores
In the past two years, increasing numbers of embedded programmers have been getting to know Linux and other open source software packages intimately. What has primarily attracted this interest is the non-existent pricing structure. But some of the initial enthusiasm—particularly for Linux—seems to be fading.Is the use of open source software as building blocks for […]