A friend of mine got a job with the Florida DOT at the SunPass road toll testing facility. Yesterday was his first day on the job.
As he was being shown the equipment he decided to ask what OS it was running. You guessed it: QNX.
Later he asked what version. QNX 4.25. It still lives on!
The comment he got from the contractor was that almost anyone doing something like this uses QNX (if they want to be successful) because Windows and even Linux can’t handle the speed and reliability requirements.
Sounds like I could still have an opportunity to earn some contracting money in my retirement!
Perhaps I should have said “pre-retirement”. The time when I slow down from fulltime employment and before I devote myself to other persuits. Besides, where the Bed and Breakfast is located the business is very seasonal and, unless I continue slaving for others for the next 15 years, I’ll need to supplement that income.
This is a surprise? Among other places QNX 2 lives on in my basement running my answer machine. Until at least a year ago, two oil tankers were using a QNX 2 system to monitor their engines using QNX 2. I’ve emailed back and for in the last month with someone in Malaysia who has some kind of industrial equipment that is controlled by QNX 2. And of course it has found new life as historical oddity under various VM’s. I’ve seen it work under QEMU, VMware, and Microsoft’s VM. This is kind of like running Mame if you happen to know what I mean.
Surprised? I suppose I shouldn’t be but it is always a pleasant shock to find my work living on, particularly when I bump into it in everyday ways such as that toll pass system. A very pleasant sort of surprise!
So does anyone have a job for an old QNX designer? :mrgreen:
