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2008 Olympics Aiming For Open Source

Posted by Zonk on from the penguins-in-sweatbands dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The IOC is considering switching its IT infrastructure to an open source platform for the 2008 Beijng Games, according to an article on silicon.com. The Olympic IT program director says the move will save money on licences but warned that support costs for open source in China could yet derail the plans. There are also some photos of the Olympics IT operation."

100 comments

  1. Because by sloths · · Score: 4, Funny

    If they used Windows it would all be illegal copies.

    --
    really 867993
    Karma schkarma
  2. Microsoft by mikejz84 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I would just stick with Microsoft products in China, after the licences costs are....free!

    1. Re:Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      support costs for open source in China could yet derail the plans

      Where the hell are they going to find support for less than in China?

  3. Ironic... by ThatGeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's ironic. Really.

    All this time I've been complaining how they don't let real amateur athletes in (they all practice non-stop for years under corporate sponsorship), when I should have been complaining that the Olympics doesn't let real amateur software in instead.

    --
    What are you eating? isItVeg?.
    1. Re:Ironic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      As one of these "not real" amateur atheletes in wrestling, how do you expect us to get the proper amount of training time in if we do not use sponsorships? Many atheletes use donations from friends and families, very few use corporate sponsors and they may only provide a small amount of assistance with competition fees. Every athlete not living at the OTC still has to have a job in addition to training full time. Earning $12k per year and putting your body through hell is not a cushy experience.

      Now, the hockey and basketball teams, there is a different story.

    2. Re:Ironic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the spirit of open source programming, the Slashdot hive-mind, indie rock, and patchouli oil, you should wrestle for the love of wrestling. If you accept payment or sponsorship for the fruits of your labor then you are a sellout and a tool of the military-industrial regime and you probably use Windows and listen to that shitty music that everybody pirates because it's too shitty to pay for or listen to. Same goes for Hollywood.

      Oh, and wrestling's fake.

    3. Re:Ironic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fuck you, hippie

  4. Disappointing photos by slavemowgli · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I've got to say the photos at least were rather disappointing - a few (three) shots of some terminals, two totally unrelated ones, and that was it. No actual server racks or anything, which would have been what I'd actually be interested in seeing.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    1. Re:Disappointing photos by imsabbel · · Score: 1

      I dont think the server racks that will be used in 2008 exist yet...

      --
      HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
    2. Re:Disappointing photos by TheMightyZog · · Score: 1

      This close to the games, most of that equipment will have been moved to its respective venue and to other "undisclosed" locations. That allows them to start performing technical rehersals from where the action will actually take place. Pending availability of the venues, of course.

      However, before the games, while they're performing integration testing on all of the software, the amount of equipment that they stuff into the integration test lab is impressive. I spent 14 months in the integration test lab for the 2002 Winter Games and I lost count of the number of computers. I'm guessing it somewhere in the order of 100+ Sun servers and easily 150-200 Windows machines to support the sports and all the central applications. Most of that was moved to the venue as the sports moved, but some remained for patch testing during the games.

  5. sure.... the real story by mAIsE · · Score: 4, Funny

    Negotiations are not going well with m$ ;)

  6. In Red China by Keaster · · Score: 0, Redundant

    In Red China the source opens you!

  7. Re:I for one by sumday · · Score: 5, Funny

    Even if it was the winter olympics being held in beijing in 2008, your post would still be retarded.

    --
    sudo killall humans
  8. I demand more pictures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want pictures of the server rooms.... besides that ops room is piss poor. I have seen other ops rooms that are far more impressive and I am not talking about Nasa flight control rooms either.

    -AC

  9. Great... by Universal+Nerd · · Score: 5, Funny

    I find it obvious that they have absolutely no intention of changing from legacy MS-centric software to free software (be it what it may). Free software has oficially become a bargaining chip for corporations that want to bring down the cost of Microsoft solutions.

    I think it's a bad move to REALLY throw the yoke on Microsoft. The IOC being savy business men they are, smell MS's fears in the air and they threaten Microsoft's costs down - just like AOL did with them a little while ago:

    AOL: LOL! M$, lower your prices or we'll use Mozilla, it'z 1337! ROFLMO!!!!1
    Microsoft: O RLY? Here!
    AOL: w00t. U teh r0x0rZ!!!
    Microsoft: WTF?

    --
    Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul Ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
    1. Re:Great... by lilmunkysguy · · Score: 1

      Sensationist title..It doesn't appear that they are considering changing anything yet. Only that someone is going to submit a proposal to change.

    2. Re:Great... by tonyr60 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Obviously you know more about Atos Origin than I can find. The article refers to UNIX servers and looking at systems vacancies at Atos Origin, they are looking for lots of UNIX systems admins. And from a press blurb about the last olympic games "We're putting together an architecture that's quite big for a short period, but that's how it works. We have around 10,000 desktops, 500 laptops, 400 Unix servers, plus another 450 Windows servers."

      I get the impression that the typical olympics IT infrastructure selection is based on business requirements.

    3. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember quite a few olympics where IBM promiantly donated all the technology, and everything was run off OS/2 and AS/400s that happened to be sitting right on camera. I highly doubt the olympic committee has ever paid a dime for IT related stuff.

    4. Re:Great... by Chaffar · · Score: 1
      Well at least in the longer run it will hurt Microsoft if ALL its big clients start threatening them with Open Source bogeyman... which in turn means less money for them to use to try to buy out their competitors in all the other fields they're investing in, one example being the $126 hit per XBox 360 they sell http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/23/ 1549209&from=rss

      Some companies will go through with their threats, some won't, but either way it's a victory for OSS everytime this scenario is reenacted.

    5. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Note to self: to present a convincing argument, do not express myself in 'leet' or quote terms currently popular on Fark. It fails miserably.

    6. Re:Great... by grcumb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "We're putting together an architecture that's quite big for a short period, but that's how it works. We have around 10,000 desktops, 500 laptops, 400 Unix servers, plus another 450 Windows servers."

      That's kind of interesting, because the linked story offers the following numbers:

      The IT behind the Olympics is a massive operation involving some 1,200 IT team members, including 800 volunteers, who run 450 Intel-based servers and Unix boxes, 4,700 PCs and 700 printers.

      Anyway, that leads me to the point I want to make:

      I've been promoting FOSS on Linux professionally since 1998, but this kind of muddiness always makes me question the wisdom of change. Not from a quality or philosphical standpoint, mind you, but from the perspective of protecting the clients from themselves.

      See, here we are at the end of 2005, and the IOC is thinking about moving to FOSS and Linux by 2008. If they intend to move all 10,500 PCs and the functionality of ~900 servers to from proprietary software FOSS and run a 24-7 terrorist-proof operation with global reach, hooking into countless other data systems... They are, not to put too fine a point on it, terminally stupid. Any system-wide change this large should be the result of very careful study. Note especially the part where it says the IT system has approximately 2 volunteers for every single paid staff member. Try to imagine what the training would be like if the software isn't spot-on in its interface design.

      BUT... if they're looking at re-working a few key systems in order to improve their robustness and lower their costs, then I would say that they've made an inspired choice that shows perceptiveness and leadership. 8^)

      And that's the problem with much tech industry 'journalism' these days. We are given almost no useful details. I long for the days when a journalist's response to an ignorant readership was to educate them rather than to gloss over details.

      --
      Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
    7. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find it obvious that they have absolutely no intention of changing from legacy MS-centric software to free software ...

      Not very legacy, IBM used AIX in 2000 and prior years. M$/M$NBC got a crack at it for the first time in 2002. And had to use Akamai running Linux caches to bail their asses out as the sites couldn't handle the load. Maybe Windows Datacenter is cheap, but it scales poorly. IBM didn't have to do that.

      A quote from an Internetweek article: http://internetweek.cmp.com/newslead01/lead102201. htm

      MSNBC switched over to servers operated by service provider Akamai Technologies to serve entire pages of the site from distributed caches, but that process took two hours. Typically, MSNBC uses Akamai only to cache GIFs, and only once before, during the 2000 elections, did it have to call on Akamai to serve entire pages.

      As for the main article content:

      Costs for open source in China could yet derail the plans

      Bullshit. This article came from the FUD foundries of Micro$oft. China has MILLIONS of Linux users and quite likely more programmers than all of North America combined. Besides they could shake the dust of the AIX code and compile it on Linux. And like Netgrear, Linksys, D-Link, and others sell and appliance to support the protection of Windows.

      The real issue here is it takes so many Micro$oft systems to do the job it is impractical.

    8. Re:Great... by dbIII · · Score: 1
      run a 24-7 terrorist-proof operation
      Be serious, most computers are not secured against spyware let alone the James Bond movie "cyberterrorist". As for the existance of the "cyberterrorist" - most real terrorists have shown themselves to be incapable of building a remote control or timer for their bombs. There are criminals that use computers, but the science fiction name "cyberterrorist" doesn't fit anyone anywhere as yet.

      As for the time scale to implement - why not? We are in the age of the web application, cross-platform applications and remote deployment. It doesn't all have to be ready at once but can be done in stages - OpenOffice, mozilla and a host of things run on a variety of platforms so the hassles with those in the environment can be worked out months before the install images are finished. We also don't know what stage they are up to - this may have been in progress for some time.

    9. Re:Great... by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      But no matter how much discount microsoft give, they`re still raking in huge profits from the sale.. Their initial development costs have long since been recovered and the cost of generating a "license code" is virtually nothing.

      --
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  10. color me whaaa? by God'sDuck · · Score: 3, Funny

    wonderful...open-source domain checking to guarantee Americas can only watch short clips of female figure-skating and assorted athlete bios. my heart fluttereth with joy.

  11. Impressive cooling system by DavidV · · Score: 4, Funny

    These guys must be into some serious overclocking by the look of their cooling system.

    http://hardware.silicon.com/servers/0,39024647,391 54787-3,00.htm

    --
    !sig
    1. Re:Impressive cooling system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only I had mod points :)

    2. Re:Impressive cooling system by turgid · · Score: 1

      Maybe intel just gave them a few thousand free itanic boxes to get the shipment figures up.

      --
      Stick Men
  12. Security? by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone else see all the makings of a security disaster?

    "This led to wireless networks being banned for previous games but that too is set to change for Beijing in 2008... The technology has become mature and we will use Cisco's network admin control."

    Unless Cisco is doing something we don't know about, Wifi security is nothing to rely on.

    "Biometric fingerprint-controlled door locks will guard entry to the Olympics IT control room run by the International Olympic Committee's technology partner Atos Origin."

    Slashdot has run numerous articles about how easy it is to bypass fingerprint biometrics.

    I'm sure they aren't telling us everything about their security preparations, but the technology they're using isn't encouraging.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Security? by lost_it · · Score: 1

      From the parent:
      "Biometric fingerprint-controlled door locks will guard entry to the Olympics IT control room run by the International Olympic Committee's technology partner Atos Origin."

      Where does it say this in the article? The article specifically mentions that biometrics will NOT be used.

    2. Re:Security? by swillden · · Score: 1

      Unless Cisco is doing something we don't know about, Wifi security is nothing to rely on.

      WiFi security is actually very good these days. Even WEP can be quite secure if you use TKIP or something similar.

      Slashdot has run numerous articles about how easy it is to bypass fingerprint biometrics.

      That depends on how they're used.

      I'm sure they aren't telling us everything about their security preparations, but the technology they're using isn't encouraging.

      Neither is it discouraging. Very secure systems can be built with these technologies, depending on how the surrounding systems, policies and processes are constructed.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    3. Re:Security? by tepples · · Score: 1

      "The technology has become mature and we will use Cisco's network admin control."

      Unless Cisco is doing something we don't know about, Wifi security is nothing to rely on.

      I've looked up Cisco's Network Admission Control framework, and it reminds me of the TCG's Trusted Network Connect specification.

    4. Re:Security? by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
      It's in the pictures' commentary.
      Biometric fingerprint-controlled door locks will guard entry to the Olympics IT control room run by the International Olympic Committee's technology partner Atos Origin. From here they will monitor the technology infrastructure and all the systems controlling accreditation, security and competition data and results for commentators and the media. A team of 250 Atos Origin staff will run the operation supported by some 800 IT volunteers.
      Photo: Andy McCue
      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  13. No, we have nothing to do with it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "As a presentative of Microsoft, I can assure You that we had nothing to do with the mysterious cable cutting at.. err, what was the question, again?"

  14. Is this a story yet? by TrappedByMyself · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games could switch to a cost-saving open source technology platform under proposals to be considered by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
    The open source move will be recommended by the IOC's technology partner Atos Origin on the back of guidance from sub-contractors that include HP and IBM.
    Claude Philipps, programme director at Atos Origin for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, told silicon.com the plans will be put to the IOC in a formal proposal and that the committee will then make the final decision.
    He said: "For open source we have a plan to propose this for Beijing. It will save money on the licences."
    But he said support costs could scupper the open source switch. "The issue might be support because especially in China you don't have all the companies we have in Europe and the US," he said.
    I know the OSS advocates will wave their victoy flags, write eloquent stories about the demise of Microsoft, and rack up free karma, but nothing has happened yet. Moves like this are considered all the time when someone thinks they can save money with all this 'free' software. Hopefully with IBM in the mix, this will actually happen, but for now this really isn't a story. Come back when the decision is made.

    --

    Help me take back Slashdot. When did 'News for Nerds' become 'FUD and Conspiracy Theories for Extremist Nutjobs'?
    1. Re:Is this a story yet? by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      I've been here long enough to know that on Slashdot, speculation is the story.

      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    2. Re:Is this a story yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I've been here long enough to know the shortest route to Slashdot karma is taking 'OSS advocate' strawmen to task or impuning the motives of anyone considering a switch from Microsoft. Unless you have connections with the inner circle of the IOC, or you're a member of the Chinese goverment, claiming this is a ploy for a cost break is pure speculation. Come back when you have a shred of evidence.

    3. Re:Is this a story yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And now the next story will be called a dupe! You win all around!

    4. Re:Is this a story yet? by chocotofferts · · Score: 1

      Most hosts of Olympics use it to justify costs of building huge amounts of new infrastructure. Even if not put through this time it might just be the precedent of argueing for the huge extra costs of implementing this infrastructure. You can bet the next host will do it though.

  15. Re:2008 Olympics: LINUX LOVERS by Esine · · Score: 2, Informative

    Obivously such important systems shouldn't be connected to the Internet. And if the password is secure (as in long and not based on a word) there should be no problem, plus no one should never ever allow root to login though ssh.

  16. Open Source censorship by Teun · · Score: 1
    China has huge resources and any OS development could go quite rapid.

    But China is as well the worlds #1 for censorship, so the next development is an OS firewall?
    Olympic sized of course :)

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    1. Re:Open Source censorship by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Informative

      But China is as well the worlds #1 for censorship

      I think you'll find that the world's #1 country for censorship is NK. The place is a true information black hole, there isn't so much as a peep from the population that comes out of it.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Open Source censorship by Teun · · Score: 1
      Sure.

      But on an economic or population scale NK is nothing.
      It's just unfortunate they might have or be close to having Nuclear weapons.

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    3. Re:Open Source censorship by Kroc · · Score: 1

      And America doesn't?

  17. Screw the Olympics by British · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It seems the Olympics consists of excessive commercialism(ie branding, etc), local businesses hiking prices when the olympics come to their town, and incredibly draconian actions taken in regards of broadcasts, etc.

    Screw the Olympics...

    Wait, someone's knocking on my door. Shit, it's the IOC secret police!

    1. Re:Screw the Olympics by bbbaldie · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Olympics committees have screwed everything else up so badly in the past, I sort of wish they were trashing OSS.

  18. Too late... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I predict problems.. sounds like something that should have been decided on must sooner.. Not so must the IT system that I think will get into trouble (might also) but more the entire event in China OL, if this kind of decisision are first being made now..

  19. Until next week by MarkByers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wait a week or two and there will be a story where they did a sudden surprise turnaround and chose Microsoft anyway....

    --
    I'll probably be modded down for this...
    1. Re:Until next week by it_ain't_my_fault · · Score: 1

      ...and then Steeve Jobs will come and offer OSX for free. But they'll stick to linux... wait isn't that the 100$ laptop? I guess it's the wrong topic, sorry.

  20. Their IT guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Here is an interview with their IT guy.

    1. Re:Their IT guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      How the hell did parent get modded informative??!!?!?!?!?!?! I could understand funny, but this is rediculous.

      Mods...DID YOU EVEN BOTHER TO FOLLOW THE LINK?!?!?!

  21. What about 2010? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If the IOC is unable to change in time for the 2008 Olympics, hopefully they will still make the change for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

    That would really put me in demand for local jobs ;)

    1. Re:What about 2010? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was thinking the same thing. There are more than enough admins in Vancouver to fill those positions.. /me preps resume for 2010..

  22. Proof by GeeksHaveFeelings · · Score: 1

    On first sight, I thought, "the title is proof that the editors are on crack."

    1. Re:Proof by Cheapy · · Score: 1

      My first thought on reading the topic was that the IOC made a new event where you shoot at Linux discs with guns.

      --
      Would you kindly mod me +1 insightful?
  23. Drug Testing by MicroBerto · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How about some open source drug testing? Opening the whole thing up, making it completely public, would really help with cheating and all the other dirty garbage that goes on behind the scenes.

    --
    Berto
    1. Re:Drug Testing by Kjella · · Score: 1

      How about some open source drug testing? Opening the whole thing up, making it completely public, would really help with cheating and all the other dirty garbage that goes on behind the scenes.

      What exactly do you mean by that? That they should publish exactly how they do drug testing so more athletes can cheat, more dirty garbage can go on behind the scenes? If athletes knew with certainty that a drug could or could not be tested for, where do you think that would lead? It would certainly lead to the illusion of a clean sport, while in reality making it dirty as all hell. If you want to have a computer analogy, this would be like publishing the details of your IDS setup to avoid intrusions. *rolls eyes*

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  24. Photos?!?! by ClamIAm · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Photos? I'm using links, you insensitive clod! (actually I am, I haven't set up X yet).

  25. Re:I for one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    uh... right.

  26. Re:Fucking Linux Weenies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hi Mr. Balmer!

  27. Amir Khan Boxing by IronBull · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Ahaaa Olympics title.. That reminded me Amir Khan Boxing Olympics 2004, he won a silver medal at the age of 17! Did any of you watch Amir Khan? He is great boxer.. More info about him: http://www.amirsfans.co.uk/ Forum: http://www.amirsfans.co.uk/forum/

  28. Vancouver is too close to Redmond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wonder if the proximity of Vancouver to Redmond will lead to any sweetheart deals being made with MS for 2010...

  29. Does anybody even care about the Olympics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    When I was a kid (back in the '70s) we used to sit and watch it darn near from the opening ceremony to the closing one, but that was back when you had almost uninterrupted coverage of just about every event.

    Now all you get is a couple of hours of highlights (and almost entirely track events) at most after the regular sports news, and even that tiny offering is just crap about doping scandals, smothered in commercial breaks.

    I honestly don't know anybody who really gives a shit about the Olympic Games anymore.

    1. Re:Does anybody even care about the Olympics? by IronBull · · Score: 0, Troll

      If you don't give a shit about Olympics... then what are you? computer geeks? you sad freak. Sports is better than computer geeks...

  30. The first steps have been taken years ago. by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Marathon has been open source for some time now.

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  31. Political concerns by Alise · · Score: 1

    I'm just curious to see how all of the participating countries will react to this. Foremost in my mind is France with their recent hostile stance on OSS:
    http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/02/20 40237&tid=123&tid=185&tid=219&tid=106/
    If they're treating the publishing of free software as a criminal offense, how are they going to react to this? It's hard to see them boycotting, but if they don't protest in some way their policy makers will come off looking highly hypocritical.

  32. When companies say things like this by Tagren · · Score: 0

    When companies say things like this, I always think they do it to scare Microsoft into giving them discounts.

  33. Re:t=.aco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, um, if you are going to pretend to post a shock site, could you maybe not post a picture of a pumpkin? (Yes, I'm aware of the historical significance).

  34. I call FUD! by kimvette · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think they've fallen for Microsoft's Get the Facts FUD campaign.

    support costs for open source in China could yet derail the plans

    How could that be? Does Google charge per search result in China or something? Are "man" and "info" unavailable in Chinese distributions? Is censorship so strong that users cannot get to related messageboards and mailing lists? *just kidding*

    Seriously though - it seems to me that they'd still come out ahead if they have to pay for support. After all with a proprietary/closed source platform you not only have to pay for the OS, you have to pay for each OS and in many cases per-user licenses as well, and then support costs extra in many cases - to the tune of $225/incident. Either way it takes time (read: money / hour) to implement and there are training costs - either way.

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
  35. IOC = corruption by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Oh, come on. This is the International Olympic Committee that we're talking about here. They're more corrupt than the city of New Orleans. They don't do anything unless someone bribes them to do it. My guess is, the IT contractors aren't offering big enough kickbacks, and they're waving the OSS option around in order to get more money.

    And there's the whole Great Firewall issue to deal with. How will the Chinese government deal with it? I don't think that journalists will like having the BBC blocked. Perhaps they'll unblock the space allocated to the Olympic village. But, even then, I don't know if the Great Firewall is technically capable of this. Even five-star hotels catering to foreigners are blocked, and they can show satellite news stations that are off-limits to Chinese nationals.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:IOC = corruption by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How did this retarded post writen by a retarded American get modded up?

  36. Whatever happened to using the right tool... by glrotate · · Score: 1, Troll

    for the right job? Why does picking an IT solution have to be an ideological endeavor?

    1. Re:Whatever happened to using the right tool... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed.

    2. Re:Whatever happened to using the right tool... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't that what they said? The move is because it saves money, not because of an idealism.

  37. code reuse by hey · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why can't they just put the entire olypmics IT dept in a few shipping containers and ship it from city to city?! What a waste to redevelop/deploy it again every two years.

    1. Re:code reuse by TheMightyZog · · Score: 2, Informative

      They sort of do that, to a point. Atos Origin, formerly SchlumbergerSema, formerly Sema, was contracted to provide the IT services for four games starting with the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The software for the 2002 games was written from scratch (since IBM had performed that duty in previous games) and those systems will evolve through to the Beijing games in 2008.

      There could probably be some good arguments for having the IOC take control of the IT services, or a portion of them, but I believe that responsibility currently resides with the body organizing the respective games (Athens, Torino, etc).

  38. support costs ? by smoker2 · · Score: 1
    I can imagine any number of people/companies being willing to do the setup and maintainance free of charge, just for the karma.

    The IOC will have to provide the hardware is all.

    As usual, "support" means "sponsorship" and "take all the blame when it goes tits up".

  39. My experience with Atos Origin by Redtech · · Score: 1, Troll

    has given me a pretty clear indication of AO's hostile attitude towards open source. I have heard this from other sources as well. Is AO really listening to it's engineer's this time or is this just a PR stunt by a company looking for exposure? After past experiences with AO never even considering OSS as part of a solution, I wouldn't think they'd have much credibility here, though I'd love to hear differently.

  40. Working as a Olympic Volunteer by paul.schulz · · Score: 4, Informative

    In the Sydney 2000 Olympics I worked as a volunteer in
    the Sports Results section in Adelaide, South Australia.
    We had 6 of the football (soccer) matches and one final.

    Our small team had to:
    - Print the start lists of players when they came through
        at beginning of the matches
    - (Watch the game.. a perk)
    - Print the results of all the matches played around
        Austalia at the end.

    The printouts (100's) were then run out to the various
    people who needed them around the venue. eg. Game Results,
    Media, Olympic Family (VIP's)

    It was a low tech result, but it relied on IBM software
    for the print jobs, and was centrally managed/controlled
    on their network. Everything went through Sydney.

    I don't know what would have happened if the network
    had failed, other than we also had been given a Fax machine
    as a backup.

    It was a good experience, and FLOSS should be able to bring
    somethign to the table...

    W

  41. Good News For the OSS Commercial Companies by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just think of all the "Linux Rules!" ads that IBM and others can run during the Olympics, all sending the message "If the Olympics can run on open source, why can't my company?"

    Ballmer must be throwing chairs. All his underhanded sneaky PR tricks in the IT trade press trumped by the Olympic coverage.

    Bwahahahahahah!!!

    And there's a new PENGUIN movie coming out! I saw the trailer the other night during "Harry Potter". Penguins dancing!

    Between the "Madagascar" movie, the "March of the Penguins" and now this, penguins are gonna be the most loved animal on the planet before long...Linus must have been prescient (as well as bitten) to pick them as the Linux mascot.

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
    1. Re:Good News For the OSS Commercial Companies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On a somewhat related note, I ate at a local Dairy Queen last week, and noticed that they used Tux the penguin as part of their Christmas decorations.

  42. LOL - Great one!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Totally amazing. Great marketing for the Open Source tools.

  43. Medal Events? by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 3, Funny

    "And the gold medal for kernel hacking goes to...."

    I can dream, can't i?

    --
    Stasis is death. Embrace change.
  44. Re:2008 Olympics: LINUX LOVERS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill? Is that you?

  45. And the millions of bootlegged MS CD's...? by gelfling · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I mean this IS China, riiiight? Can you imagine if it turned out the entire games were run on pirated software...?

  46. Olympic hardware by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

    they better not plan on printing anything or using a wireless card.

    If you're referring to the lack of driver support in Linux distributions, this is mostly an issue when switching from Windows to Linux on a given piece of hardware. In this case, if Microsoft isn't an Olympic sponsor, I'd hope that the IOC has enough clout to convince whatever business is selected at the Official PC Supplier of the Olympic Games to provide Linux-compatible hardware.

  47. Spectators WANT to see sellouts. by tepples · · Score: 1

    If you accept payment or sponsorship for the fruits of your labor then you are a sellout and a tool of the military-industrial regime

    Unfortunately, the fans in the stands and the fans in front of the boob tubes want to see sellouts and tools of the military-industrial regime. Isn't that why it's called a "sellout crowd"?

  48. It's IBM's system being replaced... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IBM has been the official computing provider at the last eight Olympics. Apparently IBM has decided to drop the sponsorship, leading the IOC to look for alternatives.

    This isn't anything remotely close to a "Linux replaces Microsoft" story. This is a "Linux possibly replaces IBM's proprietary UNIX" story. Not as interesting, alas.

  49. Some details about sponsored athletes by henni16 · · Score: 1

    The amateuer/pro thing really depends on the sport (and the country).
    Non topstar athletes might have some sort of additional support (a state sponsored coach, paid travel expenses) but often also a - maybe part time - job.
    I know some cases where the athlete mentioned his/her employer's support in an interview ("..am happy and want to thank my friends, family and boss at $villageBank for giving me the the time to prepare yaddayadda").

    In Germany it's also not that unusual to have "athlete soldiers" that enlist for a few years and get special support from the military (they also support male athletes if they get drafted).
    But mainly there is the "Deutsche Sporthilfe" ("German sport help"), a foundation that pays prize money if you win international medals for example,
    They also support "potential" winners by offering some services (e.g. help to get private lessons if you still go to school and missed some classes because you attended the Olympics or world championships) or compensation of a part of the sport related expenses.

    Anyway, there are at least some real amateurs there; I went to school with a couple of them (field hockey players). :-)
    They were all students and AFAIK two of them got a little sponsoring (saw them driving a Mercedes Smart plastered with "Team Athens 2004" labels) and years ago I heard of other "potentials" getting some support money. I don't remember how much, but the "Sporthilfe" states that they currently pay a total of 12 million Euros per year to 35000 athletes; and even if you don't subtract from that the somewhat bigger prize money for gold medal winners, thats only 340Euro per year and athlete. The maximum sum I found on their website was 350 Euro/month for people that are good enough to (constantly) qualify for their "elite program".

    Though at least my former classmates got some cash (IIRC 15000 Euro) and some sponsored gifts (a cruise for example) after winning the gold medal ;-)
    And probably a little money for PR appearances during their "15 minutes"; but I think most of them were charitable things or autogram sessions at $localevent or invitations of the "paid weekend trip for the team to visit $event and we take a picture"-kind".
    But definitely nothing to make a living; for example, I know of anotherone of that team that quit the national team directly afterwards because she needs the time to finish her studies of medicine.

    To sum it up: in Germany some sports have pro league(s) (soccer, basketball, icehockey, maybe handball and volleyball), but most sports don't.
    Most of the not-a-teamsport athletes are amateurs or amateurs with some sponsoring, but I think only very, very few are popular enough to be sponsored that they do not have another job to pay the bills (besides the handful ATP/WTA level tennis players or Formula One stars).
    I can't name one that I am sure of, but I am sure that all of them will need a job (and hence at least some sort of education/job training while being an athlete) after they quit their athlete career.
    I think some of the top ones might be fulltime athletes with sponsors that offer them a paid job training and maybe a job afterwards.

  50. Open Source in the Canadian Special Olympics 2000 by hubertf · · Score: 0, Redundant
    ``The Canadian Special Olympics 2000 Winter Games used several NetBSD servers to provide connectivity, file storage, and backup. At the main office, a NetBSD server provided shared and secure Internet dial service for up to 20 machines, as well as file storage and automated off-site backups from June 1999. As the Games approached, several other NetBSD servers were set up on lan's at the various event venues to provide Internet service for event officials, the media, and the athletes. These servers allow officials to post results to the web site immediately after the results are finalized, media to communicate stories and results to their offices, and athletes to send email back home and check out the results.

    The CSO 2000 Winter Games ran from January 25th to January 29th, 2000 in Ottawa, Ontario. '' [source]

    NetBSD is a free, secure, and highly portable Unix-like Open Source operating system available for many platforms, from 64-bit Opteron machines and desktop systems to handheld and embedded devices. Its clean design and advanced features make it excellent in both production and research environments, and it is user-supported with complete source. Many applications are easily available through The NetBSD Packages Collection.

    Learn more at www.NetBSD.org.

  51. Re:I for one by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 1

    "sudo killall humans" You do not have sudo access. This incident will be reported. --Gabriel

  52. Re:But by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 1

    With something that's this large-scale, they're probably going to make damn sure they get hardware compatible with whatever *nix they're running...And it's probably going to be as homogenous as possible. I don't believe the Olympics is run off of mix-match home and office equipment.

  53. IPv6 over wireless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since the wireless is probably going to be an intranet anyway, why not address some of the security concerns by running IPv6 for that and the rest of the intranet? If the IOC really does go with open source then they will have IPv6 capable software anyway.