Using the Linux kernel in a commercial product [closed] - linux

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I've researched on the internet about GPL licensing and if it is possible to use the kernel in a commercial product, however, I always come across conflicting information.
Say I have an embedded system that that runs the kernel, and on top of that runs the embedded software that is written by me. Am I allowed to then sell the product to customers without then giving them the source code for the software I have written? For example, trade secrets, commercial viability, someone else then using my code to produce a similar product etc.

If your software runs on top of the kernel, then I suggest you read the license of the kernel:
NOTE! This copyright does not cover user programs that use kernel
services by normal system calls – this is merely considered normal use
of the kernel, and does not fall under the heading of "derived work".

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Principles of protection [closed]

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I am reading a chapter Sytem Protection of operating system of Peter Baer Galvin.
Inside the chapter there is a paragraph inside a subtopic Principles of Protection which I m not able to understand .
An operating system following the principles of least privilege
implements its features, programs ,system calls, and data structures
so that failure or compromise of a component does the minimum damage
and allows the minimum damage to be done. The overflow of a buffer in
a system daemon might cause the daemon to fail, for example ,but
should not allow the execution of code from the process's stack that
would enable a remote user to gain maximum privileges and access to
the entire system (as happens too often today).
Please help me to understand this pragraph.
Basically, the developers of a hardened (inherently relatively secure) OS should follow common sense and give a non-kernel process the absolute minimal amount of access it needs to do its job. If you don't do this, then anything executing at kernel privilege level can potentially crash the system or, worse, compromise it and wreak havoc on the system's data.

House of Cards - how realistic? [closed]

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I have finished watching the 2nd season of House of Cards, and I'm appalled. The show really is fantastic, however let me get down straight to the point - computer-wise, how realistic is the show? Gavin Orsay, a hacker and informant for the FBI created a USB stick for the The Washington Herald reporter Lucas Goodwin, which contained malicious code that would be automatically injected into any machine when plugged in.
- Theoretically, is this possible?
Not that I would want to do something like that, I'm just interested... And I'm not talking about autorun.infs, I mean real code that would be able to penetrate into a system, a virus, essentially. And if there was to be such a virus, would it be able to inject itself cross-platform? i.e. do the same amount of damage both on Windows, Unix, Linux distros etc.
This is possible. There have been certain countermeasures that have been implemented in Unix systems that pride themselves on being safe from attacks such as these.
That said, it wouldn't work on every machine.
This is not only possible it has been done many times. have a look at the Stuxnex virus developed by the United States to slow down Iran's uranium enrichment program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet
As far as cross platform, the flash drive could have different versions of the same virus/trojan/worm compiled for different hardware and operating systems. Developing software like this is not a matter of "if" it can be done, it is a matter of how much time/money do you have to make it happen!

What language are road LED signs programmed in? [closed]

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You know, these things. I assume they run on some old computer language/framework, anyone know what that might be?
The displays themselves are pretty basic, they (in most cases) just have a microcontroller with some firmware that allows them to convert commands they get serially into patterns and/or characters. The more recent ones also give feedback regarding broken LEDs for example. Typically these firmwares are written either in assembly or C.
The real intelligence of these systems is often located in a central control system that coordinates an entire city or even a state. These control systems can perform intelligent tasks on entire groups of signs like given the location of an accident, they add the correct distance to the accident to the warning message, automatically divert traffic, and so on.
I know of such systems written in C, C++, Java, G2, ... Depends on the moment they were designed. So no, they're not by definition outdated and antique! They do tend to have a longer lifespan than your average desktop app though which often leads to the oldest parts being swapped out for more recent developments and these newer modules will in many cases be based on more recent technologies.

POS software/hardware general questions [closed]

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I'm looking for answers to a few general questions as to how point of sale (POS) software and hardware generally works in brick-and-mortar stores. I realize there will be many edge cases given the sheer number of solutions out there, but I'm looking for answers on the most common setups...
So, here it goes:
I realize that there are several standards for hardware interface standardization (OPOS, JavaPOS, UnifiedPOS). However, what is most common these days?
When a credit or debit card is scanned, does the scanning device take care of processing the card, or is it transmitted to the main POS terminal, which then connects to the processing service for processing?
Are there any standards on software for the main POS terminal systems?
How are product identifiers generally stored - barcode, ASIN, proprietary standard?
Thanks in advance!
UnifiedPOS, as the name implies, appears to be the most universal standard. JavaPOS, as you might expect, is Java language specific, while OPOS is WIN32/COM based, which suggests that it is an older standard.
OPOS, JavaPOS, and POS for .NET are all based on the UnifiedPOS standard, and they all appear to have broad support. So your choice comes down to which programming language you want to use to develop the platform.
Hardware written to the UnifiedPOS standard should work with any of these platforms. The UnifiedPOS committee says that 36 different point-of-service peripheral types currently support the standard.

Good framework for the game of Go (weiqi, baduk)? [closed]

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I enjoy the game of Go (also known as weiqi in China or baduk in Korea). I want to create a program (an evaluation function) to play it.
I would prefer if the framework handled two important tasks:
Handle rules for the game, including captures, ko rules, and final scoring.
Handle communication between a server like KGS and my program.
Also, my home machines run Linux or Mac OS X; I cannot use any only-Windows platforms.
Thank you!
GNU Go is a great open source Go program. Its evaluation function is well-documented and it provides an easy way to output the explanation for every move the program made. You can either replace the evaluation function from scratch with your own, or tinker with the existing one.
Open Go is an open source tool with code for communicating using the Go Modem Protocol. I believe that's what you need for the second part of your question.
This is an old question, but for people out there interested in an Android implementation of Go (Baduk/Weiqi) take a look at my project on https://github.com/amgreg/AndroidGo
It's a simple validator with a user-interface attached. Drawbacks are: No AI; no scoring; no server connection.

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