ISS Switches To Linux

Clearly the ISS has changed over to Linux for a reason that they deem necessary. This isn't a change because Windows is flaky or inferior or anything, it's not because some NASA purist decided that Linux was what he uses, so the ISS must use it.

They chose Windows, and so far, it's done a pretty amazing job. The space station is still up there, nobody has died, nothing incredibly terrible has happened, so clearly it was a decent enough OS to do the job. However, I would assume a myriad of testing has been done, both on the ground, and probably on a non-critical system in space, and the general feeling has been that Linux is better suited to the astronauts/cosmonauts needs.
You don't put on a raincoat to go diving, you put on a wetsuit. They're both designed to deal with aspects of water, but one is clearly more effective. That's all the ISS has done. They've put on their wetsuit, because they realised a raincoat wasn't effective enough to handle the job.

Pure and simple, if I was up there, and someone on the ground said "Hey, we've found that this system is going to be more stable and reliable, we're going to ask you to switch everything over to the new system because it's safer and easier to manage", I'm not going to complain. I'm going to take the option that keeps the ISS in orbit, and keeps me alive.

Great news... it's about time.

I was MCSD systems and solutions dev for 15 years... retired from that and never wanted to see windows again. Been a happy penguin for years now, never a problem. I Love Ubuntu, very user friendly.

Methinks the people on here saying things like Linux has no games, etc.. etc.. folks, you're in need of a little illumination.

Not only can you run many windows based programs using a compatibility layer called WINE, but you can also get tons of games for free... many games programmed specifically for Linux OSes.

Go get Ubuntu, download it and burn the CD... run the 'Live CD' and test drive it for yourself, it won't alter your installed programs

And if you can, find a movie called Pirates of Silicon Valley... well worth your time.

OH, and windows 3.1 was basically a stolen version of Apple's Lisa, Windows 95 was a rip off of IBM's OS2 Warp... DOS itself was swindled out of a guy Gates was in college with...

Did you know that even though IBM dropped OS2 Warp, it is still used on many banking ATMs, grocery store cash registers, subways, etc, etc ?

Wikipedia, Google, Toyota, the US DOD, IBM, the US Navy, Cisco, Aviation agencies, Amazon.com, schools all over the world, Novell, NY Stock Exchange, Your Playstation, CERN, Oracle, Tommy Hilfiger, and governments around the globe are all using Linux OSes. This is by no means a comprehensive list... just a few names I thought most of you would recognize... there are so many more!

I think it's only logical that the ISS adopts it as well.

No games on Linux?

NO GAMES!?

There is only one game...

Dwarf Fortress

And I would rather run it on Linux.

haha @ the little darth maul dude, had to take him, everyone should be on linux or a open source os. does wonders, surprised it had windows xp and not its own system. at least it wasnt vista

I use both OS's professionally and privately. Everyone owes both mr Gates and mr Torvalds. If it wasn't for Microsoft, a lot of people simply wouldn't have chosen to work with computers and we'd all still live in the 80386 era as a lot less people would have wanted to learn how to use a computer, less people would have bought computers and the whole development would have stayed behind.

Someone is finally paying attention. Maybe all is not lost. It's about time Windows got the boot (MuHaHaHaHa). Let us not forget GNU. The beauty of it is, you can mold it to do what "you" want, not what others saddle you with.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

www.stallman.org...

www.gnu.org...

www.fsf.org...

If more people start taking the time to learn how a computer can actually benefit you, the individual, we could end the corporatist monopolies. Self reliance is key to living in this cold world.


Quote from GNU.org:
"The Hurd, GNU's own kernel, is some way from being ready for daily use. Thus, GNU is typically used today with a kernel called Linux. This combination is the GNU/Linux operating system. GNU/Linux is used by millions, though many call it "Linux" by mistake."

reply to post by Hefficide

When a young computer hacker and software engineer was coding a UNIX clone that he actually wanted to call FREAX – with the absolute intent and belief that he wanted his creation to be free to all – who could have guessed that his quest would eventually lead to having an asteroid named after him and his creation helping humanity to pioneer the hostile environment of space!?!

Poetic stuff you wrote there...

Better and understandable that NASA chose this path.. we all should slowly do the same here on earth.. As we all know that we slowly change our fossil fuels for electric and hydrogen fuels of the future, that also Linux could be the OS of the future?

Great Info..

Aside from the usual moaning about which is better this is great news for Linux in general. The past 12 months has been a banner time for the operating system as a whole between this and Steam becoming available (which will ultimately smash the concept of 'no games on Linux'). There is still a lot of progress to be made in the desktop space before Linux truly can compete with MS and Apple in that space, however in the server space they have been and will likely continue to beat the pants off of just about everybody with an estimated over 60% of the server sector running a Linux or Unix variant of some kind.

reply to post by PhoenixOD


please allow me to take a swipe at Gates then, as his philanthropic endeavors may not be a altruistic as you imagine. Gates is involved with the de-population agenda using the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he said in a TED conference that he likes vaccines for population control....make of that what you will....
His next philanthropic endeavor is to be involved in indoctrination our children globally through the Obama Common Core Standards, which is a totally top down, federally controlled program which overruns state's rights. As I said it is global.

Before you go thinking Gates has completely disassociated himself with MS, please know that Microsoft has partnered with UNESCO on this Common Core Standards thing.

Maybe it's a good thing people are using Linux to compete with MS to curb their predatory practices. I am not arguing against Capitalism here, as real competition is more Capitalistic than monopolistic practices are. Governments can also have monopolies.
In any case MS is employing what is called a public/private partnership with the educational arm of the UN, and that is dangerous.

As for XP, it is one of the more stable of the MS developed Operating Systems.
Probably NASA should not tell the public what OS they even use. Just walk into any enterprise business and ask about their OS and their network infrastructure and see what response you get.

www.zdnet.com...

Originally posted by C-JEAN
Hi, Linux fans !

[ On a side note, anyone remenbers the good times of Quarterdeck's QEMM ?? ]

I will write here for the first time, what I did ask verbally many times to persons
"defending" Micro$oft :

" I will give you a chance, and I will show you only ONE of my hand, and this is 5 fingers !
NOW, list me **5** original ideas that came out of Win$loz !! "

For comparison, I will list what MS "copied/snatched" :
The mouse,
the icone menus or GUI,
Lotus 123,
WordPerfect. . .For those 2 previous they barely changed the manuals!!
Compress, from Peter Norton = defrag,
Flight Sim,
"Load high" in the file CONFIG.SYS for computer starts or boots.
Win NT, it was the best "OS version" they did, because it was taken from DIGITAL !
Because NT was stable, it is/was used in companies/shops, and used for networking, right ?
The browsers' CACHE, it was invented by Quarterdeck !!
and one of the latest? the Xbox !
. . .etc. . .etc. . .

Now? back to 5 MS "original" ideas?
1 2 3 4 5

Blue skies.

hahaha love the programming angle on your post!

reply to post by Hefficide


Says It All... Sniff

Originally posted by PhoenixOD

Originally posted by Slugworth
reply to post by PhoenixOD

 

The Microsoft systems are far from a shoddy design.

Say that to a room full of computer engineers, and pay attention to the righteous gut-laughs that fill the room.

i am a computer engineer, programmer , software designer, network analyst..etc

There are certain jobs that each system is better at doing. Hating on one just system because you have a competing one is strictly for the school yard.

As myself being another computer IT technical person, I will have to agree with you. Each operating system comes with it's advantages and disadvantages. You won't believe how many people I have come across that has a ripped copy of XP with no service pack updates, no virus scanner or just a cheesy free one. Consistently browsing porno and warez software pirate sites, lets their dog or cat sleep on their computer where the fans are literally seized up with dusts and cat hair inside. Then wonders why their computer runs like garbage and BSOD's all the time.

Wow... this will teach me to post a lighthearted OP I guess.

In all honesty I do not see myself as a "Linux fanboy" at all. I do see myself as a person who prefers Linux over the Microsoft product. Had anyone spoken to me even a year ago this would not have been the case. Back in the days when Win95 was new I actually did try to turn to Linux ( Red Hat if memory serves ) - I spent about $40.00 bucks on a book that included installation media... and then could never even get to step one because the CD-Rom I had on my machine just happened to be one of the few that the Linux kernel would not recognize no matter what one did.

it left a bad taste in my mouth for a very long time.

However it is a different world now. In fact it is absolutely reversed. One of my older machines is a Dell Optiplex 270 and Ubuntu 12.04, for example, will install on it hassle free, no conflicts and no worries. Windows XP will not do so and requires downloading a TON of proprietary drivers... which is quite a challenge because without those drivers the monitor resolution defaults to the lowest setting... while Windows does not.

Windows 8 is a flop by all reports. But one can also argue the same of Ubuntu 13.04. Different strokes for different folks. My current outrage with Windows 8 currently is their use of UEFI for secure booting - as it falls right in line with some of their past antics, meant to restrict consumer choices.

Having said all of that, it's funny to me that my OP seemed to spawn those who felt I was personally criticising windows... but ignored the fact that the folks in charge of the ISS are actually the ones who said they switched from Windows due to stability issues.

“We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable – one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust or adapt...

Obviously stability was one of their concerns, as they blatantly said as much.


reply to post by sean


In defence of free malware programs... I never met a malicious program that I could not beat with free programs like Gmer, Malwarebytes, Malicious Software Removal Tool ( Yes, it's Microsoft ), or others.

I also keep a copy of XP ( service pack 3 ) in my software library in case I ever get the urge to reinstall Windows for the sake of using some sort of proprietary software or game.

Originally posted by Pinke
I'm immensely disturbed that Windows XP is being used on these types of systems in the first place ... especially given it's an operating system that can be compromised before its finished installing and many many years old.

That said, I don't necessarily think we should be gloating over things like this. We don't gloat when someone throws a brick through a window and steals a television. We don't laugh at our neighbors because their security door isn't as good as ours (well some of us do ... but those persons are morons). I think it's sad that we have to spend so much time securing our operating systems.

I'm glad linux is doing so well ... and while it may save people money, I do think linux is thriving partly due to competition from the commercial operating systems. I also don't think Microsoft (or Apple for that matter) being pushed out of the operating system sphere is going to change anything as far as big corporations go. I think also big corporations are learning from web 2.0 and social media development and will catch on to some of the benefits of open source development ... (Apple did!)

Still the real question for me here is ... why did they wait so long?!

Yeah it seems odd to sort of finally concede that Linux is better; and it is heaps better then windows due to the improved performance and far less security vulnerabilities. It's the absolute perfect for OS for the kinds of things they're doing up there. I've used it a lot this year at uni and can now really appreciate how brilliant it is, in all 1000+ versions

The only reason that your typical Windows PC user won't use Linux is compatibility. The majority of popular applications just aren't available in Linux/Unix, but there are a few games/applications that are being developed or ported to Linux.

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus

Gates is involved with the de-population agenda using the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he said in a TED conference that he likes vaccines for population control....make of that what you will....

Do you seriously think he stood up in front of the world and said im going to kill people off with vaccines?

He was talking about providing free vaccines to poor people in starving countries so families didn't need to keep continuously having multiple children in the hope that one of them might be strong enough to survive past childhood.

The guy has almost single handedly eradicated polio throughout the entire world saving millions of lives. When its done that will only be the second time something like that has ever been done in history. If he wanted to kill people im sure he could spend his billions just funding a war or something lol

Love Linux. But fully realize that Windows is still a requirement for most large businesses. The sheer # of applications and support for those apps by the parent software companies makes it near impossible to switch to Linux.

Also, Windows 7 has been an incredibly solid OS. And Server 2008 very much so. So while I fully endorse Linux and what it can do, I also don't understand the unnatural hate towards MS products. For most companies, it is their lifeblood. And as long as your support staff isn't terrible, it's a very solid OS.

You must keep in mind that many of the roadblocks with MS are not created by MS, but by companies (or hackers) that want to take advantage of the most popular OS on the planet. If Linux one day were to take over the mantle of most popular and widely-used OS, I guarantee it would be running into many of the same issues you have with any MS OS.

you can update any software on your computer without internet connection you n00bs

This switch is why I have been going mental from around the 23rd. It's all in the names. Somewhere a part of my soul kept going over to a person named Debi, and in spirit she kept saying I was paraniod, then she called up Space One and some other stuff (a number followed by "A") and a consciousness appeared that was trying to help but things weren't making sense. I said who is this, and she goes I don't know, who is this to you?

Now in hindsight the consciousness perceived had the voice of Commander Chris Hadfield, and the consciousness advised Debi about pronunciation of the word. Other than that, things weren't being resolved.

Oh I got to know a lot about what is going on in Debi's house (she's probably hacking my phone along with some guy named Trav - say too much truth and the feds start circling like sharks) from the soul entanglement but it wasn't helping my mind much; my temporal lobe was suffering a breakdown and I was perceiving the Earth's RF spectrums, from the TV scatter band, then the cellular and radio band, then some other mess including the electrical zapping of my own heartbeat to some other small impulses which might be military, might be brainwaves. There is a lot of noise on Earth, not so much in space.

Not knowing it all? Well of course, but don't call me crazy. You guys have to let people know when ISS changes the core computing programming format in the space; announce it beforehand to ease the transition, let the knowledge filter through the crowd, reduce the misunderstandings. Yes my consciousness goes up that far and it's scarce knowledge on the surface what one can see all the way up around the souls at ISS.

Either that or the ISS has a copy of my DNA up there. Entanglement! Finally comprehended! That was insane.

Oh wait, there is an Immortality Drive with digital DNA up there. Whoo hoo! I haz immortality! Now wait, I have to learn Linux Debian to be at peace with the universe again? Great!

Originally posted by ArMaP
I am one of those surprised that they were using Windows on their computers (especially XP), as Linux is more suitable to be adapted to specific situations, and the ISS is as specific as it gets.

Same here.

Does anybody know how/why they ever chose windows for the OS in the first place?

Originally posted by Sandalphon
That was insane.

Good description! I agree.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


That was sort of surprising...most aerospace stuff uses some sort of RTOS based OS. Quite often something from Wind River, which are either Linux based or something a bit like Linux with extensions.

WR's stuff is pretty high grade.