World's First Linux Powered Rifle Announced

stevew writes "Following up our earlier discussion about whether guns should be self-aware comes the announcement of the world's first Linux-powered rifle. A startup attending CES was showing how their 'Precision Guided Firearms' would use customized, computerized scopes to assist with aiming. 'The Linux-powered scope produces a display that looks something like the heads-up display you'd see sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet, showing the weapon's compass orientation, cant, and incline. To shoot at something, you first "mark" it using a button near the trigger. Marking a target illuminates it with the tracking scope's built-in laser, and the target gains a pip in the scope's display. When a target is marked, the tracking scope takes into account the range of the target, the ambient temperature and humidity, the age of the barrel, and a whole boatload of other parameters. It quickly reorients the display so the crosshairs in the center accurately show where the round will go.'"

Comments

Just plain wrong to use Linux in a weapon.

[blackest_k]

It's not right in a couple of ways.
Militarily Linux is something built by individuals and companies from all over the world in collaboration. something that was created by humanity as a species not as a nation or even a political group. Maybe there is nothing in the licensing of Linux to say it can't be used for killing but it certainly seems against the spirit of the endeavour.

Right now it's being made part of a hunting rifle and that is pretty sickening too. Hunting is a skill and this takes away from the skill part of hunting. Where is the challenge when all you need to do is waggle the gun barrel in the general direction of the target and the scope decides when to fire? It wouldn't be so bad if it was just taking a photo. Even though how much pride could you take from taking the perfect picture when the camera does the hard bit for you.

It is about as skilled as fishing with dynamite. What if these guns were used to extinct a species? I don't think people worked on Linux to help rich idiots ($7000 a rifle) pretend to be marksmen. Hopefully this is a venture which is going to fail.

I remember back when yugoslavia was falling apart I was on an Amiga channel and there were some young lads on there on both sides of the conflict desperately worried they would be drafted and be forced to fight on opposing sides. Still seems just as wrong now with the diversity of nationalities we share our common interests on line yet some of us be forced to take up arms by our psychopathic leaders of our great nations...