Man, if we could see this type of real-time action in the next kernel… Yes, I realize this has nothing to do with consumer level Linux. But could you imagine how cool it would be if it did?

MontaVista Software, a company that sells Linux for embedded computing devices such as telecommunications gear, plans to announce Tuesday that it’s hit a speed goal earlier than expected.

The company is working on building “hard real-time” support in Linux, which guarantees that the operating system will respond within a short, fixed amount of time to high-priority interruptions. The feature, typically only found in specialized operating systems, is useful in machines such as precisely controlled factory robots or computing gear that handles network packets. [Read the rest]