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Penguin Airlines

Posted by michael on from the swim-like-a-bird dept.

An anonymous reader writes "DesktopLinux.com interviews Chris Stevens, President of Penguin Airlines about his young venture's business model that includes using Linux in all aspects from the ground up -- from desktops to the reservations system! 'Tux' is more than just a name for this new air taxi service which brings convenient, economical, time-saving air travel via the shortest route between home and destination." They wrote an essay about their business plans, and their heavily computerized jets look nifty as well. CD:Those interested in the aviation side of things should check out James Fallows book "Free Flight" as well.

2 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Why is this a Good Thing (tm)? by Kenja · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why is using one platform, regardless of it's appropriateness, just for the sake of using it, a good idea? Shouldn't a company or group look into all options and decide on tools that are the best fit for what needs to be done?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Why is this a Good Thing (tm)? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Heh... you obviously have a scewed definition of "mission critical". Linux, Solaris, Windows, etc. (basically any 'desktop' OS) are by no means mission critical.

      Mission Critical in airplane terms means that it *will not crash*. Not even once. Ever. If it does, it kills people.

      If you'll remember, an airplane company once made a big deal about having a Motif on top of a commercial mission-critical Un*x for a display for equipment guages and such. The problem was that there was no testing that could give 100% code coverage for the Motif package so it *could not* be used for mission critical anything. All the dead code and impossible-to-take pathways caused the testers to get a max of about 2/3 coverage. The Motif diplay could only be used for non-critical displays and they had to all have a mechanical backup (redundancy) 'just in case'. The OS was certified mission critical already and had been used for some time in airplanes.

      The first time a plane crashes and finds a core file where there was a divide by zero or something, the company will have a serious legal problem.