I have written firmware to control an optical amplifier. The amplifier had a web interface as well as SNMPv1 support. It was possible to control operating modes and monitor various runtime parameters. There was a save/load function as well using the on-chip flash. I used the MCF52230 for that (128 Kbytes of flash ROM and 32 Kbytes of RAM). I didn't use an operating system. Lwip was used for TCP/IP support.
The point is: it is possible to fit a rather sophisticated program into the small memory of a MCF5223x family device. But it requires some work: you always have to keep the memory footprint in mind. You can't just take off-the-shelf software written for a standard PC and use it in your device.
I guess that's the trade-off. You can spend more on the hardware platform that supports the off-the-shelf software. Then you'll be able to use the familiar PC programming skills. But that won't work with smaller microcontrollers. It's a bit more demanding.