Smallfoot

Smallfoot was the name of both a rapid application development toolkit and an embedded operating system designed and released by Caldera Systems/Caldera International/The SCO Group in both UnixWare and Linux formats. Created for use in embedded environments such as point of sale systems and video gaming, the toolkits were intended to create specifically tailored operating systems geared towards the desired use. These customized and stripped down versions of the operating systems made less of a footprint, hence the names Smallfoot embedded UNIX and Smallfoot embedded Linux respectively. Smallfoot is also notable in that it was a key Linux product of The SCO Group, developed for both the UNIX and Linux platforms and distributed by SCO and Caldera Systems/Caldera International after its purchase of SCO. In the SCO v. IBM lawsuit, SCO denied distribution of Linux kernel code, however SCO Smallfoot is based on both 2.4.10 and 2.6.1 Linux kernel versions. History Smallfoot was first proposed in 2001. The name Smallfoot (whilst trademarked by SCO) was never the intended product's final name, but rather was a working name that stuck. A first prototype was built around the Linux platform. A deal was signed in January 2003 for Smallfoot to work on Beetle point-of-sale terminals from Wincor Nixdorf. But given the SCO–Linux disputes that were underway a couple of months later, the Smallfoot Toolkit development switched to a Unix-based OS in May 2003.