OWFS (One Wire Filesystem) allows easy control of
the 1-Wire bus under Linux. The bus can either be
viewed in a Web browser (OWHTTPD) or as files
(OWFS). This makes manipulating the 1-wire
devices easy with shell scripts, Perl, C, and
other programming languages. 1-Wire devices are
intriguing chips made by Dallas Semi. They are
cheap, uniquely numbered, and take minimal wiring
to connect (a data/power line and ground are all
that's required. Chip functions include memory,
switches, counters, and sensors of temperature and
voltage.