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Linux At The BBC [updated]
KobyBoy writes "Damion Yates wrote a very nice and informative article about how the BBC is using Linux. Linux is quite widespread in their in-house server environment, their development environment and of course in their production environment. He even mentions the excellent support Donald Becker (from Linux NIC card support fame) has provided him." Update: 09/24 21:54 GMT by T : Whoops -- this article is pretty old. Make that, the BBC is still using Linux.
How are the IT departments handling changes in big corporatinos like BBC? Do they have to hire new admins or keep there old ones? Going from NT to Linux would require new people, wouldn't it?
...but not all that important. Why not focus on the continuous improvement of Linux and the advancement of Open Source. If we strive for those two things, take all criticism ina constructive manner, there will be no need to worry about other OS's and other systems that we already know aren't up to par.
I am Lord Snowbeam. Heed my call!
I work with Damion Yates, who wrote this article almost 3 years ago now. Guess it's time for an update...
Why not focus on the continuous improvement of Linux and the advancement of Open Source
:)
And the way to improve and advance Linux and Open Source is to testify and evangelize. Notice I didn't write "fanaticize."
What's good about this is article is that it demonstrates that Linux is a viable and useful platform in a very demanding environment that's based entirely around things like deadlines, schedules, communications and connectivity. If things aren't reliable and the news is slow to be gathered or released, you're dead in the water. The BBC is also a very recognized and respectable name, the fact they're using Linux carries more weight than Joe Blow's Pizza Shack.
There's also the added plus of businesses seeking to deploy Linux being able to communicate with companies that have rolled it out in practice, not in theory. They can glean information on pitfalls and tactics to make the best decision possible and avoid mistakes made by others in the past.
Would that be a NIC card like an ATM Machine, or Windows 2000 being built on NT Technology?
There's no place I can be, since I found Serenity.
This would be relevant except for that fact that the article is ancient and the BBC have moved on since then. The BBC has moved its focus on Linux and it is now targetted towards OGG and back end services. There are a few front end machines but these are being moved to Solaris to be inline with the rest of the service. There are a few announcments to make regarding linux within the BBC, but I am sure these will be slashdotted in the near future and will be more relevant than this article and it's author.
Speaking of the BBC, one thing many US citizens don't know about is that they offer ad-free, free news through http://news.bbc.co.uk - no, it's not US-centric like most US news sources, but it gives a nice perspective on lots of global issues, stuff you might not even hear about in US news. (And if you really, really still want just US news, click the "Americas" link.) What does this have to do with running Linux? Well, not much, I just thought that this was useful information.
Serious Question not trying to flame
....
In the past 3 years I have really taking a liking to Unix(mainly Linux and FreeBSD). Now my understanding is that FreeBSD is a better server platform(or at least it once was) than Linux.
My question: Why would the BBC use Linux over FreeBSD for their servers?
Possible answers:
1. Linux has hype
2. Unix folks like using Linux as a desktop so it's a natural upgrade(Much like MS with NT)
3. FreeBSD it hard to use?
4
I am in no way trying to bash Linux or FreeBSD(I use Linux at work, FreeBSD at home) just curious.
Please tell me don't flame saying one is better than the other unless it supports your argument about why Linux is being used more(or seems to be).
If only you could get CEO or CIO magazine to link to that article.
Unfortunately, few if any CEOs or CIOs will ever read the article. Having this article on Linux Planet and Slashdot is simply preaching to the chior. Again!
Rave reviews, none the less.
All us jobless M$ admins out in silicon valley?
/. readers will get the point and follow suit.
Fuck M$, after 7 years of supporting thier crappy O/S, fighting with the developers to use exchange instead of a popmail solution, after 7 years of fighting with the linux zealots on the merits of a M$ based system, i'm burnt out. This Sp1 stuff is complete crap.
There's a lot more of me's out there than you think microsoft.
From now on, instead of teaching people how to use outlook express i'll be teaching them how to use kmail, instead of IE i wil be showing them gecko, instead of teaching them how to use word i'll show them how to use open office.
It wont just stop there either, i'll load their pc's up with emulators and roms galore, show their kids how to play games on something other than windows. I'll install quake and UT2003 for those that buy it.
Microsft really fucked up by cutting out the people that for years was the undermining support for preaching their products. I no longer wish to be a microsoft whore. I remember several times having to frantically dig out NT40 CAL's just to be sure we had enough licenses so someone could save a file on a server. What utter nonsense and I was a nincompoop for doing it.
You pissed off one little jobless NT admin M$, and i'm sure there is many more. Granted this comment doesn't get modded into oblivion, perhaps the other
Your days are numbered bill.
They were invaluable to me, worked better than anything else. It must have been a successful trial.
So why aren't they up permanently? Why can't I listen to my favourite DJs every weekend on the essential mix?
Liberty.
...will there be a new distro out? I can just see it now: BeebLinux: The Penguin with dry humor. Error messages: "Your bloody network isn't running, blokie. Besides, it's 4pm, time for tea and crumpets. BeebLinux has just paged the help for you, your tea will arrive shortly, love."
The mascot. A female Tux with a crown, maybe? Or just pasting Tony Blair's face on Tux. Opening screen: The House of Lords filled to the brim with Penguins in powdered wigs...
Yep. Definately value for money. I've not met many people that aren't happy with the service the BBC provides.
How bout DNS Server?
You are correct.. it is service. I guess I'll go restart my SMTPd daemon instead.. ;)
---
Fortune's Real-Life Courtroom Quote #19:
Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?
A: All my autopsies have been performed on dead people.
I've actually heard it called a "personal PIN number". Why anyone thinks they need a personal personal identification number number I'm not sure.
(Actually, calling it a personal identification number was an incorrect move on the part of the banking industry anyway. It is not an identification number. It's a verification number, a "password", which isn't the same thing. With a slew of 4 digit numbers out there there have to be a lot of duplicate people with the same PIN as me, so it fails to be an identifying number.)
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Objective like (for example) CNN???
sorry, couldn't resist
Burma?
Has anybody ported Linux to the Beeb Microcomputer?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
It's not state-run in the same way as, say, the Chinese media as you appear to be implying. It's not controlled by the government in terms of day-to-day management. The application of editorial pressure by politicians is, if IIRC, illegal. Moreover, it's not owned by the government in the sense of a nationalised state utility. It is an independent "corporation" (hence the C in BBC) that manages its own affairs. It is subject to some restriction of its commercial activity, and some protection from the pressures of the commercial world that allow it to produce stuff that's percieved to be "public service". If anyone could be said to own it, it would be the license payer, and in a much more direct way than the taxpayer could be said to own a nationalised utility.
Maybe you knew all this but, taken with the rest of your comment, you seem to be implying that the BBC is little more than a mouthpiece of the "British viewpoint", whatever the fuck that is.
And we all know that moving to Channel 4 was the best thing to happen to English cricket since Ian Botham and 1981 ;->
The BBC employs more British people than any other nationality. Its not that amazing that views that are widely held within Britain - that decolonisation was done too quickly and in a haphazard manner, for example - are also widely held within the BBC, and that these views are reflected in their coverage.
IMO, the BBC still offers your best chance of unbiased reporting on any random story around the world. Sometimes it can be a bit out of whack, but thats life.
Just out of interest, where are you from?
Why not FreeBSD?
We do realmedia encoding with linux, realnetworks don't provide a *BSD binary to the best of my knowledged. The dtext boxes simply needed to be reliable, not massively scalable servers. One possible project will need vmware which is also linux only. We have Free/Open and NetBSD fans in Internet Services, but we're all capable UNIX admins so we're running secure reliable systems on Solaris and Linux, there is nothing to gain from using FreeBSD for example. Personally I like playing q3a so my desision is obvious at home.
The Ogg Vorbis streams should restart shortly, we've had permission to go for it now! We might even get real links from the same JS popups that the 'real' links are on. We've had some space problems... We have to provide realmedia encoding for loads of parts of the bbc, there is a massive quantity of scheduled encoding events. The number of spare realmedia encoding servers was limited, as was audio matrix outputs and rackspace. We were able to set up ogg on a few when we had spare boxes, once we were streaming live Ciaran contacted monty who worked on making it closer to comparible to real, which quite frankly was far superior at lower/modem bitrates. Ogg was rivaling mp3 at 96/128kbps not wm/real at less than that. We also spent months convincing internal red tape using peeps to let us advertise this slightly! Eventually Ogg at the bbc was available, but only to l33t /. kiddies (preaching to the c..), it didn't
really get discovered by enough average joes of the public. We also needed
to nick back some encoders for real streams we'd promised the internal BBC
people. The AOD (audio on demand) project needs loads of encoders, the
embeded player popup crashes NS4 with embeded Linux or Solaris realplay.
[Please help out by complaining to the site owners so it's not just us
doing do! - but not postmaster/support/noc etc, that is us]. We're working
on coding a Solaris and/or Linux kernel module or LD_PRELOADable bit of
code to allow multiple processes to open the audio device and be none the
wiser, this will mean we won't need as many boxes for live 24x7 streams
along side recoded on-demand streams. [help us out] Then we'll have ogg
back in a jiffy! Alternatively you can wait for our move to complete* and
we should have extra encoding capacity. Next task [when asked to provide
feedback about ogg streaming, emails that say "Real is shit it makes popups
and adverts in my desktop waa waa waa.." REALLY don't help Ogg. Many in
the BBC believe it's Windows VS Real, Real can encode on many platforms, be
served reliably on many platforms and be received on many platforms.
Windows Media can only be encoded on Windows and there are limited
platforms that can play it. We're fighting for Ogg, but if your Realmedia
moans get us converted to WMT then the team that are fighting for you will
have quit. Real aren't evil, they are even now supporting Ogg! Real works
on the 9210i, I've checked our scottish footballs streams on one while
ssh'ed to the encoder it was started on!].
*http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/25730.html
Well as of 9am 23rd of Sept nearly 40% of what was BBC I.S. of Ogg fame,
started work at the new location, we've suffered a lot, but the new
building is bigger and probably will work out well, if not least due to much
more rackspace for ogg encoders.
New distro? Well the followup article would cover that, there kinda is a BBC specific dist, it would be dry humoUr of course. It's more the build mechanism. Tim Hurmans work on serial net boot and PXE, a shrunk version of slacks color.gz (should be coloUr!)
or LCD display - that's a classic one
Shame on the person who modded the parent as flamebait.
While it starts with the common misperception that the BBC is "an official government mouthpiece (that is) state-run organization and controlled by the British government", the concerns about the organization's objectivity are totally reasonable. Open discussion about issues such as the objectivity of media is of crucial importance to all modern democratic societies.
All organizations that consist of humans are subject to bias issues and in BBC's case Britain's historical and continuing cultural and economic links (or occasionally antipathies against old adversaries) will inevitably affect BBC's reporting from time to time. Yet they provide far more factual and unbiased coverage of world events than the American news networks which inevitably tend to oversimplify the news to their average American audience which lacks both the background knowledge and the attention span, not to mention plain interest, to get to the bottom of things.
BBC is a great english-language news resource once you learn to keep your bias-filtering glasses on. The best news organizations, i.e. those based in countries that have no major/recent colonialist past or any existing "special relationship" to the USA or other major powers, are found in continental Europe, but their english-language coverage tends to concentrate domestic rather than international news.
FWIW, part of the anglophone news scene's problem might also lie in the "information inbreeding" that stems from monolingualism. European journalists, OTOH, are likely to speak besides english also other foreign languages and that is often reflected in the different perspective and approach esp. what comes to difficult political issues in world politics.
Should invading one's peaceful neighbours be opposed, or rewarded with trade deals?
ffmpeg/ffserver does this for audio and video, no ogg support yet afaik.
-Yarn - Rio Karma: Excellent
What we need now is a campaign to get the Beeb to drop its use of Real as the preferred format for audio & video, in favour of, say, MP3 and MPEG.
I cannot abide the scumsucking Real player - not least since it appears wantonly to steal file associations (okay, in Windoze) each time it is used, appearing to ignore any preference settings which suggest the me (the mere user) would prefer to keep my MP3 association with, say, Winamp.
The message which should be taken away form this is: The BBC is absolutely dependent on standards, and hence uses Free Software to ensure compliance.
Dunstan
The last scintilla of doubt just rode out of town
The BBC also provide some the best Science and Technology coverage found in *any* mainstream media.
Including this interesting pience on why News beats porn online.