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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."

11 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. 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!
  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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 ;)

  6. 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...

  7. 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
  8. 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.

  9. 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!
  10. 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...?