Editing Lineo (section)

== History ==
Caldera Thin Clients, Inc., had been created as a subsidiary of [[Caldera (company)|Caldera, Inc.]], on 2 September 1998.<ref name="Caldera_1998_Subsidiaries"/> Caldera Thin Clients' original president and CEO was Roger Alan Gross,<ref name="Caldera_1998_Subsidiaries"/> who resigned in January 1999. In April 1999, Caldera Thin Clients released the no longer needed sources to [[GEM (desktop environment)|GEM]] and [[ViewMAX]] under the [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL).<ref name="Jemmett_1999"/>

In July 1999, [[Caldera Thin Clients]] decided on a major refocus on [[Linux]] and consequently changed its name to Lineo.<ref name="Richardson_1999_Ball"/>

Lineo licensed a stripped down [[OpenLinux]] distribution from [[Caldera Systems, Inc.|Caldera Systems]] and named it Embedix.<ref name="Richardson_1999_Ball"/> They continued to maintain the former Caldera Thin Clients sales office in [[Taipei]] in 1999. In January 2000, Lineo reincorporated in [[Delaware]].

Lineo's technologies fully owned were well ahead of competitors' products in the [[embedded system]] portion.<ref name="Richardson_1999_Ball"/> These technologies included:
* Rt-Control provided [[μClinux]] - a version of Linux for [[microcontroller]]s, such as the Motorola [[Motorola 68000 series|68k]]/[[NXP ColdFire|ColdFire]] line, [[Intel i960|i960]], [[ARM architecture family|ARM7]], and [[ETRAX CRIS]] chips. With these [[Microprocessor|chips]] lacking [[Memory management unit|MMU]] and thus unable to provide [[computer multitasking|multi-tasking]] capabilities, [[uClinux]] was able to run full-featured in as little as 150&nbsp;[[kilobyte|KB]] of [[random-access memory|RAM]] with a 1&nbsp;[[megabyte|MB]] [[Read-only memory|ROM]] chip.
* FirePlug - Linux-based projects, such as their Linux [[Firewall (computing)|firewall]] built on the ThinLinux product, which ran in as little as 2&nbsp;MB of disk/flash storage and 8&nbsp;MB RAM.
* Embedix - Lineo's [[Flagship#Flagship in language|flagship]] product that ran a complete multitasking, networked Linux operating system in 2&nbsp;MB of ROM/[[Flash memory|flash]] and 4&nbsp;MB of RAM.
* Embedix [[Software development kit|SDK]] and the [[Embrowser]] - a fully graphical [[web browser]] for embedded systems.<ref name="Lineo_2000_Flyer"/> Embrowser was Lineo's port of the 32-bit [[DOS Protected Mode Interface|Extended DOS]]-based browser [[DR-WebSpyder]], originally based on the [[Arachne (web browser)|Arachne]] browser.

This combination of technologies allowed Caldera Thin Clients to offer a full [[Linux]] [[operating system]] with a graphical browser that could run off a [[floppy disk]].<ref name="Caldera_1998_WS20-Floppy"/><ref name="Caldera_1998_DLWS20"/>{{clarify|date=May 2014|reason=This floppy-only setup worked with DR-DOS and DR-WebSpyder, but did it still work with Embedix and Embrowser?}} More importantly the product was unique, and this came from the fact that Lineo's view on the Linux [[embedded system|embedded]] market was different from other vendors.<ref name="Richardson_1999_Ball"/><ref name="Lehrbaum_2000_Sparks"/> All the other vendors believed that Linux was heavily fragmented and that the solution was to offer Linux features for real time OSes, that is a Linux [[API]] for some other OSes. [[Red Hat]] with its EL/IX created a [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]] independent [[software framework|framework]] (API) which allowed some Linux software to run on the [[eCos]] kernel. Lineo did not agree with this assessment and believed the API offered far more advantages and allowed for a fully [[Computer security|hardened]] system, that is, Lineo utilized a custom Linux kernel. Through the six companies Lineo acquired, they were able to extend the same Linux technology across multiple chip architectures and add real-time capabilities. The acquisitions gave broader Linux support, from very small [[microcontroller]]s, through traditional platforms like [[x86]], and up to [[high end]], [[high availability]] systems.<ref name="Lehrbaum_2000_Sparks"/>

Lineo's president and CEO, when it reformed under the new name, became [[Bryan Wayne Sparks]],<ref name="Caldera_1999_Lineo"/> who also had been one of the original founders of Caldera, Inc., in 1994. At the time of its creation, Lineo had 14 employees.

Lineo's main product was [[Embedix]], a lightweight [[Linux]] distribution for embedded systems, licensed from [[Caldera Systems]], Inc., another subsidiary of Caldera, Inc.<ref name="Caldera_1999_Lineo"/><ref name="Caldera_1998_Subsidiaries"/><ref name="Richardson_1999_Ball"/>

Another product was [[DR-DOS]], a [[DOS]]–compatible [[operating system]], previously developed by [[Caldera UK Ltd.]] between 1996 and 1999 and originally acquired from [[Novell]] by Caldera, Inc., on 23 July 1996.<ref name="Leon_1996_Caldera"/><ref name="Richardson_1999_Ball"/>

Through its acquisitions Lineo also had a range of products in many different product categories.

Through a series of acquisitions and mergers, Lineo eventually ballooned to a peak of about 350 employees, with offices in seven countries. The companies that it acquired or merged with were:

* Zentropix – realtime Linux specialists
* Rt-Control Inc. – uClinux creators, very small board (uCdimm) vendors
* Moreton Bay – VPN/Router vendor (located in Brisbane, Australia)
* United Systems Engineering (USE) – Japanese Linux consulting company
* Fireplug – Canadian Linux consulting company (ThinLinux product)
* Inup – High availability Linux
* Embedded Power Corporation – Realtime and [[Digital Signal Processor|DSP]] OS (RTXC product)