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Linux May Succeed Windows XP As OS of Choice For ATMs

Posted by Soulskill on from the cash-from-a-penguin dept.

Dega704 sends this news from ComputerWorld: "Some financial services companies are looking to migrate their ATM fleets from Windows to Linux in a bid to have better control over hardware and software upgrade cycles. Pushing them in that direction apparently is Microsoft's decision to end support for Windows XP on April 8, said David Tente, executive director, USA, of the ATM Industry Association. 'There is some heartburn in the industry' over Microsoft's end-of-support decision, Tente said. ATM operators would like to be able to synchronize their hardware and software upgrade cycles. But that's hard to do with Microsoft dictating the software upgrade timetable. As a result, 'some are looking at the possibility of using a non-Microsoft operating system to synch up their hardware and software upgrades,' Tente said."

5 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. heartburn in the industry? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh if only Microsoft had given them more than like 10 years notice of end-of-support, they might have had time to prepare....

    1. Re:heartburn in the industry? by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > Oh if only Microsoft had given them more than like 10 years notice of end-of-support, they might have had time to prepare....

      I've been in shops where the key mission critical app was 30 years old. All of the shiny new MBAs would come in and try and replace that thing with newer tech but would ultimately fail. The 30 year old product did the job and the shiny new things couldn't.

      ATMs are such a key part of their business that it really makes no sense for them to not be in total control.

      Linux allows that.

      Although they should have used a more industrial product to begin with. The choice really shouldn't be between Linux and Microsoft. There should be better targeted options and the market should have allowed those to thrive.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  2. Here's what I don't get by dingen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's a desktop operating system doing on an ATM anyway?

    --
    Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
  3. Re:Yes and no by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the perfect example of why gratis doesn't mean so much. The really important thing here is that the user or even the "integrator" can have complete control of the system. They don't have to worry about ANYONE else interfering with the degree of control they want and the features that they want to be active.

    The people building the ATM are in total control. For a device like an ATM, that's really how it should be.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  4. Re:Ok seriously though ... by Grishnakh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You are missing the difference. Linux is open-source, and not under the control of any one vendor. Distros go EOL, kernels basically do not; you can always upgrade to a newer kernel, and you're not going to break anything in the process. So if you're an ATM maker and you roll your own Linux distro, it's pretty trivial for you to just keep upgrading to the latest (stable, not bleeding-edge) kernel. Or, if you prefer to have a vendor do your OS work for you, your vendor (like Wind River, Timesys, etc.) can do that too. So basically "yes" to your second paragraph, first sentence. If they're not qualified, they can outsource it to one of the many commercial Linux companies. And if they get sick of their chosen vendor, they can easily switch to a different vendor, or move it in-house; these are options that aren't present with MS.