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+# RIOT Vision {#vision}
+
+We expect an evolution in the software platforms powering Internet of Things
+devices that can be compared, to some extent, to the recent evolution of
+software platforms powering smartphones.
+
+In a few years time, software platforms powering smart handheld devices has
+speed-evolved from a state where dozens of closed-source, slow progress,
+proprietary solutions where used, to a state where a couple of major players
+have imposed new de facto standards in terms of software platform openness,
+interoperability, and automatic updating. On the bright side, this has led to
+much quicker paced progress, and to the development of billions of new
+applications built on top of these platforms, which interact in innovative ways
+with one another and with the cloud. At this point, let's make two remarks about
+the dark side of this evolution. First, while companies pushing iOS and Android
+use such software platforms as more tools to achieve profit-oriented goals
+(e.g., accumulating and monetizing personalized information), RIOT is developed
+and maintained by a non-profit, open source community of developers organized
+around principles that are mainly inspired by the Linux community or the IETF
+community. Second, while the true level of openness of iOS or Android is debatable,
+RIOT aims instead at a Linux-like openness.
+
+That said, we expect a revolution in the software platforms powering Internet of
+Things (IoT) devices, and we expect this revolution to be as game-changing as
+the aforementioned evolution of the software platforms powering smart handheld
+devices (retaining only its bright side, hopefully). It is yet unclear which IoT
+software platforms will emerge as dominant -- RIOT is a contender. It is however
+quite likely that new standards will be set in the near future, in terms of IoT
+software platform openness, API, automated software updates and other
+characteristics that are necessary to enable a modern, large scale, secure ecosystem.
+Such an IoT software evolution will quite likely fuel a new world of distributed
+applications developed by a large variety of actors, on top of the dominant open
+software platform(s). These applications will leverage both spontaneous wireless
+networks, the cloud and the denser, interconnected environment of heterogeneous
+devices that we will find ourselves in.
+
+Our vision is the emergence of an entirely new reality in which our interface to
+the Internet will no longer be predominantly a screen, but rather the objects of
+the cyber-physical system embodied by the Internet of Things itself. RIOT is an
+open source operating system that aims to power IoT devices in this new reality.
+RIOT aims to provide a powerful, but very low memory footprint software platform,
+that enables any programmer to develop applications on typical IoT devices with
+zero learning curve (assuming prior experience with POSIX and Linux for instance).
+RIOT aims for shortened development life-cycles, using standard languages, and
+well-known debugging tools. RIOT implements a micro-kernel architecture that provides
+built-in robustness, real-time capabilities and energy efficiency -- future-proof
+properties, required by many IoT applications to come.
+
+In this context RIOT aims to power a modern, large scale, evolutive, and secure
+cyber-physical ecosystem, comprising of heterogeneous IoT devices, distributed
+processes and applications, that can seamlessly interconnect with one another
+and with the cloud, leveraging standard network stacks (including IPv6
+interoperability) available in RIOT.