Two words: Embedded Systems (Score 1)

• So I'm standing here, wondering: what's the point?

Like the title says... embedded systems.

Devices such as routers, firewalls, and other network appliances (not to mention things like assembly-line robots and traffic signals) all come under the category of embedded systems. They are typically single-task devices that run without direct human intervention.

These devices share a few common characteristics:

• They have cheap CPU's (typically at least two generations old... hey, there are still Z80's being made!)
• They have small amounts of RAM (a few K to a few megs)
• They have a very limited space for the operating system itself (typically a few K of non-volatile RAM up to a few megs of flash disk)

There is quite a market for such mini operating systems. Many such devices use Intel architecture hardware, and of these, most are sufficiently PC-compatible that you can actually boot them under DOS (assuming you can get DOS onto the nonvolatile storage).

A few examples: pSOS, VxWorks, IOS (okay, well, IOS isn't "mini" :)

The point is, these systems all need an operating system that is small-footprint, CPU-cycle-efficient, doesn't need much of a user-interface (just enough for editing config files and such), and extensible. x86 compatibility is a big, big plus, as it makes the physical design MUCH easier and cheaper.

Sounds like a useful thing to me!