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US Military Drones Migrating To Linux
DeviceGuru (1136715) writes "Raytheon is switching its UAV control system from Solaris to Linux for U.S. military drones, starting with a Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout helicopter. Earlier this month Raytheon entered into a $15.8 million contract with the U.S. Navy to upgrade Raytheon's control systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to a recent Avionics Intelligence report. The overhaul is designed to implement more modern controls to help ground-based personnel control UAVs. Raytheon's tuxified version of its Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Air Vehicle Tactical Control System (TCS) will also implement universal UAV control qualities. As a result the TCS can be used in in all U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps UAVs that weigh at least 20 pounds. By providing an open standard, the common Linux-based platform is expected to reduce costs by limiting the types of UAV control systems that need to be built and maintained for each craft."
NO CARRIER
free to use unless you intend to kill people.
This comment is covered by the Popeye standard disclaimer.
Red Hat Military Edition? Killbuntu? Debian For Drones?
Finding God in a Dog
It's been my experience that drones usually migrate to Microsoft products.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
The killer app for linux has been finally released. This will be the year of the linux desktop, or at least the one when it will take off.
As far as I can tell from reading the report, Linux is not installed on the drones themselves, but is running under the operations control suite. They would be absolutely insane not to be running an RTOS on the avionics of the drones. I do research on drones (no, not the $100 quadcopters you can buy from Toys R' Us) and autopilots, and wouldn't let Linux anywhere near the avionics.
Just init.tab entries.. RunLevel 1 = take off, 2 is cruse, 3 is crash (not that kind...)
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
No-one uses upstart.
Also mir is dead. NASA confirms it.
But.... Windows 8
Why is Windows not an option?
They couldn't find the start menu.
Nonono, Mac OS X is NeXT.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
funny, most of the neck-bearded people I know were in the military.
Judging from experience. If you installed WIn 8 for the drone it would turn on you.
I vaguely remember that Kermit had a prohibition on military use back in the 1980s; maybe longer. That seems to have gone away. No sure if it's because Kermit is no longer controlled by Columbia University.
Cheers,
Dave
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
Sounds like one hell of an implausible urban legend.
Ezekiel 23:20
killall -9 "myenemies"
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Yes, Linux is still a long way away from becoming prominent in that one particular area, but it certainly isn't having any trouble taking over everything else in the meantime. Every OS vendor is looking out their window and finding themselves surrounded by penguins.
Even the GPL covers this. You can argue that a shell shot by the drone is like a linked library to the drone. Therefore the victim has to see the GPL before being killed.
People so frequently misunderstand the GPL. There is no obligation to provide source unless someone has the binary, and the publisher can wait until they ask. So to be GPL compliant the publisher only has to provide source to strike survivors if and when they ask. The publisher is also free to choose their own delivery mechanism so long as it is something commonly used, given the precedent of the first shell a second shell containing source would be compliant.
So if the NSA now knows of backdoors, it must inform the military so they can be patched, who will then be forced to publish the fixes. Right?
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!