Smallfoot was the name of both a

rapid application development Rapid application development (RAD), also called rapid application building (RAB), is both a general term for adaptive software development approaches, and the name for James Martin's method of rapid development. In general, RAD approaches to ...

toolkit and an

embedded operating system An embedded operating system (EOS) is an operating system designed specifically for embedded computer systems. These systems aim to enhance functionality and reliability to perform dedicated tasks. When the multitasking method employed allows ...

designed and released by

Caldera Systems Caldera International, Inc., earlier Caldera Systems, was an American software company that existed from 1998 to 2002 and developed and sold Linux- and Unix-based operating system products. Caldera Systems was created in August 1998 as a spinoff ...

Caldera International Caldera International, Inc., earlier Caldera Systems, was an American software company that existed from 1998 to 2002 and developed and sold Linux- and Unix-based operating system products. Caldera Systems was created in August 1998 as a spinoff ...

The SCO Group The SCO Group (often referred to SCO and later called The TSG Group) was an American software company in existence from 2002 to 2012 that became known for owning Unix operating system assets that had belonged to the Santa Cruz Operation (the o ...

in both

UnixWare UnixWare is a Unix operating system. It was originally released by Univel, a jointly owned venture of AT&T's Unix System Laboratories (USL) and Novell. It was then taken over by Novell. Via Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), it went on to Caldera Syst ...

and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

formats. Created for use in embedded environments such as

point of sale The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

systems and

video gaming Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

, the toolkits were intended to create specifically tailored operating systems geared towards the desired use. These customized and stripped down versions of the operating systems made less of a

footprint Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. The ...

, hence the names ''Smallfoot embedded UNIX'' and ''Smallfoot embedded Linux'' respectively. Smallfoot is also notable in that it was a key Linux product of The SCO Group, developed for both the UNIX and Linux platforms and distributed by SCO and

after its purchase of SCO. In the '' SCO v. IBM'' lawsuit, SCO denied distribution of Linux kernel code, however SCO Smallfoot is based on both 2.4.10 and 2.6.1 Linux kernel versions.

History

Smallfoot was first proposed in 2001. The name Smallfoot (whilst trademarked by SCO) was never the intended product's final name, but rather was a working name that stuck. A first prototype was built around the Linux platform. A deal was signed in January 2003 for Smallfoot to work on Beetle point-of-sale terminals from

Wincor Nixdorf Wincor Nixdorf was a German corporation that provided retail and retail banking hardware, software, and services. Wincor Nixdorf was engaged primarily in the sale, manufacture, installation and service of self-service transaction systems (such a ...

. But given the

SCO–Linux disputes In a series of legal disputes between SCO Group and Linux vendors and users, SCO alleged that its license agreements with IBM meant that source code IBM wrote and donated to be incorporated into Linux was added in violation of SCO's contractual ri ...

that were underway a couple of months later, the Smallfoot Toolkit development switched to a Unix-based OS in May 2003. The formatting of the toolkit configuration language drew heavily on

Tcl TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company ** TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited ...

. The toolkit included extensive configuration of many parts of the system, JavaPOS library, newly developed drivers for Point-of-Sale (POS) devices, and a POS application. A complete POS terminal developed with the Smallfoot Toolkit release 1.0 was demonstrated at

SCO Forum SCO Forum was a technical computer conference sponsored by the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), briefly by Caldera International, and later The SCO Group that took place during the 1980s through 2000s. It was held annually, most often in August of ea ...

in 2004 in Las Vegas, where breakout sessions entitled "Build a Smallfoot OS Using the Smallfoot Toolkit" and "Smallfoot is Not Just for Retail Anymore" were held. The further development, including a GUI, was shelved until the sales of the command-line version of the toolkit would pick up and provide a revenue stream. The product itself was announced in June 2004, as part of a roadmap presented by SCO intended to show renewed investment in their Unix product lines. The Smallfoot Toolkit product went onto the SCO price list in July 2004. The minimal bundle was priced at approximately $35,000 and included the Toolkit, UnixWare license for the development machine running the toolkit, 500 deployment UnixWare licenses for the generated images, 10 hours of support. Larger volumes of the deployment licenses provided extra per-license discounts. None were ever sold and eventually the product was discontinued. Eventually an outgrowth of Smallfoot found a customer, Budgens supermarkets. Budgens, a part of the Musgrave Group, were looking to implement Linux at their point of sale systems. The project became an early success story in terms of stores taking a chance on a Linux-based solution.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://ir.sco.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=137086 , title=SCO Announces Broad Array of New Unix Products, Channel Support and Training Programs , date=2004-06-15 , author=SCO , access-date=2007-10-05 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225145354/http://ir.sco.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=137086 , archive-date=2007-12-25 {{cite web , url=http://ir.sco.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=99268 , title=SCO and Wincor Nixdorf to Offer Joint Retail Solutions , date=2003-01-13 , author=SCO , access-date=2007-10-05 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017020138/http://ir.sco.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=99268 , archive-date=2006-10-17 {{cite web , url=http://www.crn.com/software/18825000 , title=SCO: Project Legend, UnixWare SVR6 Will Drive Future Channel Business , date=2003-08-19 , last=CRN , access-date=2007-10-05 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://archive.today/20130120023542/http://www.crn.com/software/18825000 , archive-date=2013-01-20
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124024723/http://ir.sco.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=99268 , date=2008-01-24 CA and OSS, enable Budgens to save 375,000 GBP
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717210358/http://www.dc-center.com/uk/ca/files/Budgens_case_study.pdf , date=2006-07-17

External links

– SCO documentation Embedded Linux distributions Embedded operating systems Linux distributions

History

See also

References

External links