vxWorks, eCos, WebOS, Symbian, RISCOS, the BSDs, and QNX aren't exactly special to a board. Nor are L4 or Mach single-platform kernels. If it's a bit cheaper p

vxWorks, eCos, WebOS, Symbian, RISCOS, the BSDs, and QNX aren't exactly special to a board. Nor are L4 or Mach single-platform kernels. If it's a bit cheaper per unit to port something that's not Linux onto something you never expect an end user to access directly, that's what a manufacturer is often going to do. There are toolchains for many operating systems for many processors. Not all the world is Linux and not all the world is designed to be a general purpose computer system. The reason these low price developer/maker boards are designed is because they can be put together for a low price. They reuse components designed to run a stack or maybe one of a few stacks in embedded devices produced at scale. Either the board maker supports it, or if enough demand for the software exists the community will help support it.