Best Of Breed

This is where I get to express my opinions on the best tools and tool providers for embedded software development. I do not claim to have used every tool/provider over my 15 odd years in this business, but of those that I have used, these represent the the tools most compatible with my software research and reuse philosophies.

Since I am also a geek in my "spare" time, it is ideal when the tools are free "as in beer". However, some tools are either not available or insufficient in their free form.
 

Of these tools, only one (VISIO) *requires* a Wintel machine. As you may have noticed from my other rants, this is a problem for me in my home environment since it would ideally contain neither Microsoft Windows nor an Intel processor. Thus, I have been eagerly watching the evolution of the open source "alternatives". In particular KIVIO of the KDE office suite KOFFICE. As of the time of this writing, KIVIO is infantile when compared with VISIO, although, it appears poised to evolve into a reasonable alternative. To do so, it will need:
 


mike@mnmoran.org