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Linux May Succeed Windows XP As OS of Choice For ATMs
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."
Oh if only Microsoft had given them more than like 10 years notice of end-of-support, they might have had time to prepare....
So does this mean we can expect our special hardened ATM Linux OS to have names like Filching Finch, Moneybiting Mongoose, Overcharging Oranguatan?
What's a desktop operating system doing on an ATM anyway?
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
It was, before the ADA required banks to replace any ATM that could not handle audio integration. That was about 2-3 years ago. OS/2 typically could not handle the hardware upgrade necessary for the required audio. The banking industry paid millions, maybe billions, to upgrade tens of thousands of ATMs. Diebold, NCR and Hyosung made out like bandits.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
Finally, the year of Linux on the... oh wait... ATM.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
ADA was only one reason. The main reason was OS/2 was EOL and they couldn't really do anything with it. You haven't truly loathed an OS until you waited an hour for an ATM to boot, only to find out the next config change would require another reboot. ...and you had 5 more config changes to make.
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.
Why an ATM was hosted on XP in the first place is beyond me. I suppose you dance with the one who brought you and banks are solidly Windows shops, but using XP for a device where security and reliability is paramount seems like a bad choice, at least in hindsight. I suppose in the depths of the XP heyday, when the base design decisions where being made, Linux was a decidedly hit and miss affair (mostly miss). X support was spotty and other devices had limited support. I remember the heady days of installing slackware and configuring video card and monitor by editing that text file. XP must have looked pretty good.
Now, ATM venders are faced with having to port everything to newer versions of Windows, which forces them into more expensive hardware (faster CPU's, more memory, greater drive space, modern video hardware etc.). This in the face of being able to keep using the old proven hardware, put Linux on it and get another decade or two, not to mention control of your own destiny because the source code is available and free. You are going to pay to retool to Linux, but you get to step away from Microsoft license fees. It's a long term gain, short term loss.
Maybe they will make the right choice this time? Who are we kidding... You KNOW that Microsoft has pulled out all the stops on the Redmond FUD machine and would gladly cut some "deals" to keep these guys on the hook and make Linux look less desirable in terms of ROI.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
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.
So how is support for RHEL 2.1 (a year younger than XP) these days?
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
You can't 'tell them what you want' ... they'll hand you back a slip and tell you to fill it out and sign it ... which is what you do when you poke the buttons and enter your pin number at an ATM.
You're naive at best.
Banks are some of the most ruthlessly efficient organizations on the planet, by their very nature.
First off, those bored people behind the counters 'watching you fill out those ridiculous slips' aren't bored, I promise you they've been working ALL day, doing something the bank hasn't yet automated. Just because the counter is high and you can't see they've been counting night deposits doesn't mean they were just sitting back their rubbing one off.
Second, the slips are not so you can 'tell them', its so the bank has a record of what YOU told them you were asking for or giving them, and BEFORE The transactions complete, they can reject it. If they accept it, they have, IN WRITING, what YOU requested from them, and how they filled it. They are protected against YOUR mistakes in transactions. The ATM does the EXACT same thing, but you just don't realize its doing it. This is a matter OF LAW, not practice or fun. This kind of stuff goes right along with the regulations that let them put that nice little Insured by the FDIC sticker on the window.
Third, Awesome, you think because the bank has off loaded doing their job onto YOU and a machine, that people who use the old method, where the bank actually provides services ... are the ones with a problem. And notice ... those people have ... money.
Irony: You think you're smarter because the bank is much more efficient at ripping you off than those stupid old people. Congratulations, there is an old dude sitting in an office, laughing his ass off about how you and the kind of ignorance you carry with you, filthy fucking rich.
ATMs are banks giving you less service and charging you for the privilege. You're an idiot. You kinds of guys are mind blowing to me. So excited about the new hotness not being 'old and busted' to notice that 'new hotness' is in fact, busted from the start and 'old and busted' got the job done better and cheaper.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
I've seen XP on some ATMs, not XPe, although it does get annoying when an ATM is down due to an XP activation screen.
The ATM industry needs to stop being pennywise and pound foolish.
Instead, they need to design their platform once, do it right, then as time goes on, add a UI refresh every so often so the cute cartoon characters get a facelift every year or two.
Were it up to me with ATM design, I'd probably charge off a quarter profit to do the architecture right, then once done, pretty much coast from there.
First, I'd give a lot of consideration to QNX. ATMs are not really needing a RTOS, but QNX has an excellent reputation for security (with decent government certifications to back that.) From there, add a TPM chip, userland, and the application. Done right, someone plugging in an unauthorized USB flash drive won't be able to do as much, compared to XP with AutoPlay/AutoRun turned on.
Linux is also a good choice. One could go with a full userland or an Android style userland, both with SELinux to minimize damage. Linux may not have the C2 cert that QNX does, but it will hold its own in security, if done right.
you can always upgrade to a newer kernel, and you're not going to break anything in the process.
This is just wrong. Threading and libc compatibility isn't transferable between 2.4 and 2.6. There are innumerable 2.4 applications which will flat out not run on a 2.6 system. The same goes between 2.2 and 2.4. And 2.0 and 2.2.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson