During the course of the past week, there's been an increasingly lively discussion (and debate) about the real-time characteristics of Linux, and over which approach is best. As a result ...

Linux now integrates PREEMPT_RT and is real-time capable. The eBPF-based "extensible scheduler" is also included.

Reducing boot time has become one of the more interesting discussions taking place in the embedded Linux community. As it turns out, it is relatively easy to save substantial time on system boot.

Linux only: Free open-source utility Timer Applet makes GTD a breeze in Linux. Timer Applet sits unobtrusively in the system tray and displays the amount of time remaining for the current task.

Linux is well tuned for throughput-limited applications, but it is not well designed for deterministic response, though enhancements to the kernel are available to help or guarantee determinism.