Finally! Finally an automaker (BMW) is trying to make sense out of the various in-vehicle computer operating systems. As it now stands, each automaker has their own OS. To make that more "real-world," imagine if every car and truck used a different threading and sizing system for all their nuts and bolts. That's essentially what you have here with the on-board OSs. It's just plain crazy!

With a standard open-source Linux platform--much like what the SAE did with the standardization of nuts and bolts decades back--you would be able to develop software that could be used in a multitude of vehicles, and would not be brand-specific. Imagine what that would do to bringing down costs! This would be a win-win for everyone; from software develops, to automakers, and finally to the customers.

While this idea is still being debated among automakers, and is still years away from being a reality, the benefits should be obvious to everyone. So my hat is off to BMW, and to Goggle and Wind River, who are also of the team developing this, for getting this long overdue idea moving forward.

Full story here.

In a somewhat related story, Inside Line has something up on the latest BMW 7-Series iDrive: BMW's iDrive Revived

Can you imagine if BMW--who has been raked over the coals--regarding their incredibly complex iDrive, could develop a simple system that could be easily understood by everyone? That in itself would be worth the effort!