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NASA Gives Linux a Chance on Portables
ces writes "From Government Computer News Feb. 7: 'NASA will give Linux a nod for upcoming portables buy.' It seems Linux is on the list of 'desired' OS's for an upcoming NASA procurement of up to 4,000 laptops, some of which will be destined for use on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station."
You said:
"If you check out their anonymous FTP server, and look around hard enough, you can find some really cool GPLd toys."
I hope you can give us some url to save us from the "look around hard enough" stage.
Any url, please?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
A lot of people have the weird idea that NASA is some monolithic agency where the CIO dictates the color of the mouse pads. It doesn't work like that. If you name an operating system, somebody, somewhere is using it. The goal is to use the best tool for the job, not to worship at the throne of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Linus Torvalds.
These contracts are issued to save money on items that are likely to be in high demand. It also reduces the amount of paperwork and red tape.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Linux doesn't need to scale to high upwards on a laptop... How many dual processing notebooks have you seen on the market?
I do get your point about having a company standing behind the software though... It's too easy for red hat to pass the buck on some issues... I'd still question your choice of NT over Solaris or SCO, though.
ought to contract someone to build them some PPC based laptops running a *nix. P3 and Celeron based laptops take up too much power in my opinion, you have to remember you're running these things in a very closed environment with limited power. My Powerbook uses 7 less WPH than a comparable Dell Inspirion, most of the difference is the processor. I bet NASA could get IBM to build them some since they have both PPC licenses and have pretty good working knowlege of both Linux and AIX. I hope whatever they go with runs a Unix variant, especially an open one like Linux. Linux would mazimize the hardware on the notebooks and allow the astronauts and engineers to edit it to their needs.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
JSC has been the site of an IT jihad. In 1996, the head honcho of IT at JSC made a push to "standardize" the IT environment. His decision was to ignore the advice to use standardized, cross-platform file formats and instead make JSC a Microsoft shop. This put the large userbase of Macs directly in the line of fire and they fought back. It became a long, drawn out political fight between JSC officials, the Inspector General, and Congress. In the end, nobody completely won. But Microsoft technology made some major leaps forward in seizing control of JSC's IT infrastructure.
Like with many other large organizations, JSC today is very much a Microsoft shop. It is a prime test center (read: Microsoft partner) for various MS offerings to include Exchange, SMS, and Win2K. But Microsoft does not hold all of JSC. Macs have made a comeback. Various Unix flavors exist to include Solaris, HPUX, AIX, IRIX... to name a few. VMS has always been in the shadows. And Linux is sprouting up.
Linux shows up as "testbeds" in various organizations. It runs tasks as rogue installations (desktops as well as servers). And one organization has even created their own dual-boot Windows/Linux standard desktop load. Furthermore, the ODIN IT contract has received requests from JSC "customers" for a Linux load.
And now JSC's contracting office has set Linux as one of its requirements for future hardware purchases.
JSC has followed the pattern so many other organizations have followed. Linux has gone from an obscure user-supported rogue installation to an official, sponsored requirement. The fact that this was done in spite of the direction of internal political pressure and the natural tendancy of these kinds of large organizations to resist change is a tribute to Linux.
OK, so it had Lea Thompson and "Forever Man" by Eric Clapton. But still...
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
I was in contact with an astronaut recently and he told me that some of the programs they run on the shuttle are still MSDOS programs.
Ignore Alien Orders
No, he said it was GPLed. Which means it is not in the public domain.
You have to claim a copyright on something to put it under a license. Public domain is by definition a forfeiture of any rights under copyright law.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
Combine Linux with the low power requirements of the Crusoe and... woohoo! perfect space application. No support needed and very little power.
Microsoft's new slogan should be "Houston, we have a problem"...
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BSDI, maybe. But you see what happens when you just try to create DRIVERS for NT...
Don't forget, computers in space can (but not necessarily always do) mean the difference between life and death. "open that airlock... damn! bluescreen!
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I second that. I've been running Linux for several years and have only seen... maybe two... crashes. And those were all due to hardware failures.
My advice to the original poster: If you think that the window manager and OS are one and the same... go back to windows. Linux will hold no advantage for you...
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
I thought that, being a government agency, unless there was some kind of national security motivation, that software generated by them must be put in the public domain.
That's how it is when I worked at the Bonneville Power Administration. I got to take home all the code I worked on, because it was done on goverment dime.
If you can't figure out how to mail me, don't.
For linux tips: http://www.linuxtipsblog.com
Since Linux is one of several acceptible operating systems, they may or may not make the cut. A lot will depend on how well the OS meets the other expectations.
This seems the proper way of going about it -- define the problems to be solved, and see what is out there that can solve those problems.
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Computeri non cogitant, ergo non sunt