What is RTLinux?
Rtlinux is an operating system that allows real-time control of machinery and data from a Linux environment. RTLinux is a hard real time operating system with guaranteed response times (up to hardware limits). Many "real-time" operating systems offer " typical" response times instead. RTLinux was originally developed at the New Mexico Institute of Technology.
Response times are close to hardware limits. On a modest, reasonably configured, x86 PC a RTLinux interrupt handler will run under 10 microseconds from the moment the interrupt was asserted and a RTLinux periodic task will run worst case within 30 microseconds of its scheduled time. On better hardware, these times shrink. Of course, if you insist on bad hardware, you can make things run worse.
Programs are developed in a standard Linux environment with additional capability of connecting to real-time tasks. For example, it is easy to write a Perl script that displays data in Xwindows, responds to commands delivered over a network, and collects data from a real-time task.
RTlinux is currently used for telecommunications, robotics, video editing, and data acquisition and other applications in the field and in R&D labs.
License is an open-source license with no royalties or fees. RTLinux is an open-source kernel, released under the LGPL. The source is freely distributed.