Contiki 2.7 Released

An anonymous reader writes "Version 2.7 of the Contiki operating system has been released. The open source Contiki OS is known for its minuscule IPv6 stack that allows the tiniest of Systems-on-a-Chips – microprocessors with built-in 2.4 GHz radios – to connect to the Internet. The 2.7 release improves the IPv6 mesh routing mechanism so that the Systems-on-a-Chip autonomously can form wireless networks."

Contiki implements protothreads

[Medievalist]

One reason [muneebali.com] for it's awesomeness.

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[Medievalist]

Dammit, I think that's my only slashdot first post ever, and it has a grocer's apostrophe [angryflower.com] in it.

Re:Contiki implements protothreads

[Crudely_Indecent]

I forgive you for the errant apostrophe....just so you can't say that the whole world is against you.

Nobody else will forgive you - but I will.

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[gagol]

While I do not forgive, I do not give a crap about it.

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[bill_mcgonigle]

The poster is partially wrong - VCR's is correct - any acronym or initialism where the 's' could be ambiguously interpreted as part of said abbreviation gets an apostrophe, for clarity's sake.

In 60 KB

[anss123]

Another reason for it's awesomeness is that it fits a GUI with Networking in 30KB if RAM and 30KB of ROM.

My mouse driver use more than that.

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[gagol]

http://download.cnet.com/usbmouse-exe/3000-18491_4-210097.html [cnet.com]

A new version of Contiki!?

[Kichigai Mentat]

Oh boy, I can't wait to load this onto my Commodore 64!

Seriously, though, that's a testament, IMHO, as to how compact and efficient these folk manage to make this software.

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[OakDragon]

Oh boy, I can't wait to load this onto my Commodore 64!

Seriously, though, that's a testament, IMHO, as to how compact and efficient these folk manage to make this software.

Yes, seriously! [wikipedia.org]

Does anyone bundle Contiki?

[unixisc]

The supported hardware page [contiki-os.org] lists some of the MCU/RF chips that it supports, but what about actual system manufacturers? Do any routers support it? I know it would form mesh networks, but be it IPv6 or IPv4, it would need a gateway/router that assigns these addresses. Are any of those Contiki based?

Also, this OS - since it has a BSD license, I'm guessing that it's not Linux, but is it any sort of Unix derivative, or something else altogether? What are all the features of this OS? It's wonderful that it's compliant w/ several standards, but what are its features that would make it usable in, say, garage doors, toasters, TVs, home security systems & so on?

Not Unix

[Cid Highwind]

It's something else altogether, originally it was a project to put a multitasking kernel, TCP/IP stack, GUI, and web browser on a Commodore 64, and has since gone in a mesh networking internet-of-things sort of direction.
There was a Slashdot article [slashdot.org] on the original desktop-oriented release, but the links are all dead.

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[unixisc]

Thanks for that article - just read it. The comments were so informative - particularly the ones that described the entire OS. So it's a co-operative multi-tasking OS that fits in 8-bit MCUs. Makes it handy for such systems. But I'd imagine that a lot of those things would be real time systems i.e. require responses within a set time for them to be valid?

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[oldhack]

Any way related to geos(?), the GUI OS for Commodore?

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[Anonymous Coward]

Here is one: Thingsquare [thingsquare.com]. Looking at the customers, it seems like Contiki is being used at least in light bulbs and thermostats.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Small foot print and no MMU requirement means that it can run on microcontrollers with very limited memory that cost less than $2.
Linux etc are just too bloated and would require external memory chips just to boot up.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Two 6Lowpan routers, one Linux [redwirellc.com] based and one Contiki [redwirellc.com] based.