Linux Desktops Send NASA Rovers to Mars

joestar writes "It's not a secret that Linux has been used at NASA for a long time, and it appears that they have been using it quite extensively on the desktop. From the article: 'At the JPL, it is common to see Red Hat Inc., SuSE or Mandriva Linux running on users' desktops alongside Windows. [...] that's still a lot of Linux on the desktop.' More surprisingly, they seem to be reluctant to use Linux on servers: 'Our personal view is that Linux, period, is only for the desktop. We don't run our main servers on Linux, because there are too many flaws in main Linux kernel.'"

Comments

What we do not know

[SirCyn]

Our greatest strength is to know our flaws. I think any OSS appplies here.

Re:What we do not know

[SatanicPuppy]

I think the biggest issue anyone could have with Linux is that it comes with too much stuff by default.

For a mission critical app with a zillion dollars worth of hardware riding on it, I might be more comfortable putting my faith in a much tighter, more easy to audit OS. Not that there aren't Linuxes like that, but they're usually not supported by the big Linux support companies, and that is the second reason why I might go with IBM or SUN, for example.

Re:Ironic, isn't it?

[MightyMartian]

I'll wager that the vast amount of NASA's management and engineering software is written in C and for *nix platforms. Now, if you're responsible for deciding what operating systems to put on workstations, and the choice is between an operating system that is in many respects foreign in architecture and development tools, and an operating system which is very similar to what's running on your servers and offers identical or nearly-identical tools, which one will you pick?

This is what Microsoft has never really understood, and because it's never put that much effort into getting *nix software to easily port over (they did have good intentions with NT 3.5), there are a huge range of applications, particularly at the high end, which will likely never be found on a Windows machine.

Re:I work in Mission Control and...

[Arandir]

But, I have seen many workstations running Linux...

To most people, a workstation is a desktop. "Desktop" itself is a very nebulous term, originally meaning a computer small enough to put on your desktop, but now meaning any client system you directly interact with. You also have the problem of many people using "desktop" to refer to a GUI operating environment. A "workstation" however, comfortably fits into all of the above. Workstations are desktops.