The Eclipse Foundation Creates New Open Source Initiative

Looking to define and implement a standard platform for the software development tools used in the automotive industry, The Eclipse Foundation has announced the creation of a new open source initiative.

Specializing in software development tools and runtime, the Automotive Industry Working Group will operate under the Eclipse Foundation, an open source Foundation. Organizations can now collaborate on the development of new technology innovation with the help of Eclipse Industry Working Groups. The results of the working group will be made available under the Eclipse Public License (EPL), a commercial friendly open source license, the company stated in a press release.

The initiative has been founded by German carmaker BMW Group, the automotive suppliers Robert Bosch GmbH and Continental AG, and the Eclipse Strategic Member itemis AG from Lünen, Germany.

“BMW uses standards such as AUTOSAR, Flexray or Genivi in the development of automotive software. It is a necessary condition for BMW, that the tool chain supports these standards. We believe that tools based on Eclipse are an efficient way to reduce gaps in the tool chain. It can be very helpful if Eclipse-based tools can not only be used as a stand-alone tool but also as integrated components in a larger environment.”

Electronics and software functions are the major reasons for innovation in the automotive industry. As an open developer tool workbench that extends throughout the supply-chain is becoming a must for the industry, the system automobile is becoming increasingly complex. To accelerate product development, create high quality software features and improve integration across the automotive supply chain, improvements and innovations to these software development tools are required.

Recently, the company announced that the newest Eclipse project, Indigo, is available immediately through Genuitec's Pulse (News - Alert) platform. Pulse not only locates the fastest mirrors for optimal download speeds, but also allows users to manage five years of Eclipse technology simultaneously. Pulse currently has over 1.5 million users worldwide and is the standard platform for Eclipse developers to download and share their workspace profiles - whether developing cloud, desktop or mobile applications.