# 175: How Hard Could It Be?

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2016-11-09
- Length: 1h 15m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/175-how-hard-could-it-be

## Summary

Jean Labrosse, founder of Micrium (now part of Silicon Labs) and author of the uC/OS real-time operating system, explains the origins of his software, which began after his team encountered a bug in a commercial RTOS that the vendor refused to fix. He details the technical challenges of building a robust kernel, including handling race conditions, priority inversion, and stack overflows, and discusses the importance of clean code and certification for medical and avionics applications. Labrosse also advocates for using commercial RTOS support over free alternatives like FreeRTOS, arguing that the 'free puppy' analogy highlights the hidden costs of maintenance and debugging time.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=6) Introduction and Lightning Round
- [6:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=368) Origins of uC/OS and the 'How Hard Could It Be' Moment
- [13:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=799) From Magazine Articles to Licensing and Micrium
- [24:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=1458) RTOS Fundamentals: Tasks, Scheduling, and Preemption
- [31:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=1864) Priority Inversion and Mutexes
- [34:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=2083) When to Use an RTOS vs. Super Loops
- [37:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=2242) Porting, Compilers, and MISRA Compliance
- [49:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=2944) Debugging Tools: MicroC Probe and Runtime Analysis
- [55:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=3311) The 'Free Puppy' Analogy: Commercial vs. Free RTOS
- [1:00:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be#t=3602) Acquisition by Silicon Labs and Future of Embedded Systems

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Medical & health devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/medical-devices)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- uC/OS (product)
- Silicon Labs (company)
- FreeRTOS (product)
- MicroC Probe (tool)
- SEGGER System View (tool)
- Kinetis (chip)
- ARM Cortex-M (chip)
- 68HC11 (chip)
- MISRA (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [An Interview with Jack Ganssle (2nd)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-04-20-an-interview-with-jack-ganssle-2nd) (The Amp Hour)
- [Real Time Operating Systems with Brian Amos](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-03-14-real-time-operating-systems-with-brian-amos) (The Amp Hour)
- [The Pragmatism of Hubris](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-12-14-the-pragmatism-of-hubris) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Modern Embedded Systems Programming with Miro Samek](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2022-01-18-modern-embedded-systems-programming-with-miro-samek) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Zephyr with Luka Mustafa](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2025-11-09-zephyr-with-luka-mustafa) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-11-09-175-how-hard-could-it-be. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.