Linux-powered device

Device manufacturers' reasons to use Linux may be various: low cost, security, stability, scalability or customizability.

Some ports are performed by committed individuals or groups to provide alternative software on their favorite hardware.

[1] The original hardware vendors are in some cases supportive of these efforts (Linksys with the WRT54G) or at the least tolerate the use of such software by end users (see TiVo hacking).

[5][6] Google Nexus developer phones are the flagship brand of Android handsets, with features and capabilities that represent the state of the art at the time of launch (typically every eleven months).

Violators are usually found through public records,[7] where they may be forced to declare their implementations, or through their own advertising, for example "Embedded Software Engineers with Mandatory Linux Experience Required" on their careers pages, and yet their site or product documentation offers no source download or offer to supply the software source as required by the license GPL.