An effort begun by MontaVista in 2004 has paved the way for Linux to become a Real-Time OS. The development is on-going, & there are several obstacles that have yet to be overcome, but the outlook is promising. According to the article, the changes necessary should be implemented into the kernel over the next year and a half.

"He said that there are a number of inhibitors to Real Time in the 2.6.x kernel, not the least of which is the fact that there are some 11,000 critical sections that are not preemptable."