>Linux can handle many of your needs, but because it is really just
breaking
>into other mainstream areas outside of the server market, some areas
need a
>lot of development. Industrial applications such as you're doing,
PLC's,
>process controls, and SCADA systems are some of the areas where very
little
>development has been done when compared to server and desktop
applications.
Some of this is beginning to change. The guys at http://www.ucLinux.com
have developed a small module for industrial control which runs a linux
kernal. Some pictures of it are mirrored on our machine at
http://www.ind-info.com/ucLinux . After the first of the year we're
going to begin work on a communications driver to Allen Bradley SLC 500
devices. (Hopefully PLC5 will follow shortly thereafter.) OUr ultimate
hope is for the PLC to control, and a Linux box to record and display. I
know there are others, too.
Michael
