OK, that makes perfect sense indeed, I had not understood that correctly. My apologies.
I have not needed this myself so no detailed first hand knowledge here, but if I understood correctly then Wago has PLC hardware running Linux that you can work from yourself in software running on the OS in the controller. Programming in i.e. C/C++. You may want to look into that path, as you can use your choice of approved Wago modular I/O's.
E.g.
http://global.wago.com/en/products/new-items/overview/basic-page-2600.jsp
http://www.wago.us/products/compone...tem-ip-20-750753-series/plc/linux/index-2.jsp
Thanks, will look into that. Have been seeing Wago products in a lot of the trade magazines lately.