What is Digg?38 Comments
- GeekyGirl, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Not only did they save $15M, but they also completed the project in one-third of the projected amount of time.
- CapnCornflake, on 10/12/2007, -10/+26So, they switch from UNIX to Linux, and suddenly this is an anti-Windows party? Windows wasn't mentioned anywhere in the article. I admit Windows is a pretty shabby OS, but you people flood digg articles with your anti-Windows flaps as long as anything tech-related is in the article.
- hello2usir, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18Both Linux and Windows are solid operating systems if the person behind the keyboard knows what the hell they're doing. Nine times out of ten, if a computer crashes, it's the fault of the user. Unfortunately it's not the user's nature to admit their own ignorance. So they blame something else, usually the operating system. And then OS flame wars start. And here we are.
- ThinkFr33ly, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12The planes don't run on Linux.
- monkeycat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11The planes have pilots - I'm sure they are trained to be able to fly a plane in the event that air traffic control cannot be reached.
- teeheehee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ssdigg
I can at least vouch for Volpe going to RH as ssdigg says. Part of the company I work for does some sub-contracting work with Volpe and all the folks that work there had their machines replaced some time ago. - artemster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I don't think it's a matter of stability, but rather that of maintenance, as the article states. They don't use many applications that require windows, and FAA does not have money to burn.
- nbx909, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5uh atc just give them flight following and directions to the airport... they could accually find their way to the airport themselves by using Visual Flight Rules like what all pilots have to do when they are learning how to fly... I accually perfer flying VFR because you don't have to worry about listening for your tailnumber and you can enjoy the landscape more. Also commerical jets run windows 3.1 on 486 processors because A) they are flight proven and B) you don't need a hyper threading p4 to track where you are going.
- Flackster, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10That's news to me. The branch I work in has 8,000 clients and 600 servers, and every one of them runs on Windows. Any reports of a mass FAA exodus to *nix is premature, methinks.
- Feztaa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@Oline61: Are you quite certain?
- ssdigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4No, it does not.
The Volpe center replaced their HP/UX'es with RHEL (long story made short). I don't see where Solaris enters the equation, and I don't see how/who/why someone can simply wave their arms around and say "BAH the FAA still uses Solaris for any air traffic control related task."
Who are these people that unabashedly crap all over an article's comment section? Who are these people that gave this comment a digg of +4? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3woohoo. are they hiring? freshly minted solaris admins want to know
- rewritable, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4People around here in hicksville, USA just blame the guy that sold them there custom built computer..........me. But the only reason they have problem is because they won stop downloading super totally awesome screensavers etc from supertotallyawesomefreedownlaods.ru
- Disodium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"uh atc just give them flight following and directions to the airport..."
depends, if they are IFR (like all commercial flights are going to be) then we also are responsible for keeping you from smacking into that other 747 over there, and still getting to from A to B (and around whatever weather is in between) which can be a bit of a challenge (alot more than just directions to the airport, setting up patterns, sequencing, complying with minimum vectoring altitudes which keep planes clear of buildings/mountains). Go watch the first half our of Pushing Tin then turn it off (the rest sucks) and you get the general idea :P - AngryPenguin47, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Linux FTW!!
Eat that, all you "Linux isn't ready for the desktop" microsoft fanboys. - 4771cu5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I never used UNIX when I was an air traffic controller. Though, I was at a terminal, not a center.
- orbitalleader, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6why is any comment that questions the greatness of Linux modded down? The point of the thumbs up/down system isn't to punish someone whose worldview may be different than yours; it's to hide trolls. This is a comment that should be making you think, and it modded down by some idiot -- and that's just not right. Shame on the moronic Linux fanbois trying to stifle anyone disagreeing with their rosy view of the world.
- jettavito, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2ssdigg
None of the RHEL software is certified by the FAA to control or monitor air traffic. You may get a simplified display, but as of right now AT is being controlled and monitored with Sun processors running Solaris. Check it out. - stou, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Its funny but Java ships with a warning that states it should not be used for real-time applications like air traffic control or nuclear reactors (I guess the garbage collector makes it non-deterministic or something)...
So ok I get the switch to open source software... linux, etc. Why the ***** are they using Oracle? Yea there isn't a really solid enterprise class open source database server out there but come on... there are a million better db servers out there than oracle... such a rip-off too. Out of that 10 million they spent, 7 was probably for oracle licensing fees. - jettavito, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5This article is total *****! The FAA still uses Solaris for any air traffic control related task.
- Flooq, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4It's about Unix to Linux. So how is that an exodus to *nix?
- info, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1re: "The planes don't run on Linux."
Not flying the plane, admittedly, but just another example that Linux is everywhere...
http://digg.com/linux_unix/Picture_of_Linux_crashing_on_an_airplane
Obviously, this was not a JetBlue flight.
;-) - aamer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1oracle is pretty damn good ... it would be hard to objectively say others are better overall. though others may be equal to it or better at specific tasks. which db did you have in mind?
- 3rdcoast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1linux For teh Win!
- mancat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Maybe the vanilla Sun JVM does. There are many more JVMs than Sun's. Also, the reason Sun tells you that is because they want you to pay them extra bills if you want their Real-Time JVM for industrial applications.
- Mofo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Holy *****! I work with government computer folk all day (though not the FAA) and the gov actually doing something that makes sense and saves money at the same time is clearly mind boggling. I work for a federal contractor and efficiency or the bottom line is usually the last concern.
- Shadowman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@orbitalleader
Those 3 pointed to the Red Hat website. I guess it's better coming from the Federal Computer Week site. I think all government computer systems should be migrated to Red Hat. They get a great operating system and it saves us all money. - nilclop, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Nice to see the FAA doing something good like this. Between the massive controller shortage that is going to be occurring within the next few years that the current administration doesn't seem to be addressing, coupled with the impending pay cuts for controllers, the FAA needs all the help they can get.
Good move in my opinion. - jpmkm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1And you may notice that this is about a transition from Unix to Linux. Not a transition from Unix to Unix or Linux, as is implied by *nix. It is foolish to write *nix when referring to Linux and only Linux.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1check where?
- Oline61, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3@Floog, you may notice that both Linux and Unix end in nix.
- teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3This could be a step in the right direction for Linux but we will see.
- orbitalleader, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7Dupe-o-rama!
http://www.digg.com/linux_unix/Federal_Aviation_Administration_saves_$15_million_by_migrating_to_Red
http://www.digg.com/linux_unix/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_commissioned_to_Help_Planes_Crash_Less
http://www.digg.com/linux_unix/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_commissioned_Help_Planes_Crash_Less - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1What if they ran linux and it suddenly crashed and the planes went along with it? Ok, less law suits, but is that really an argument?
(Someone who uses Linux and Windows for at least 30h a week each) - odarky, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Well it makes sense, Linux based on UNIX which has been around since 1970s (I think). UNIX was designed to support multi-user, multi-tasking, etc. from ground up plus years and years of fine tuning and fixing bugs. It would be a obvious choice for mission critical applications that people's life depends on it.
On the other hand, Windows was design to make it easier for regular users to use computer since the beginning. It would be hard to just to add features up to the same level as UNIX/Linux and expect the same level of stability and security. They do, however, come a long way and they will keep getting better and better.
That is just my 2 cents - ThinkFr33ly, on 10/12/2007, -27/+17Funny... last time I checked, Windows 2003 Datacenter Edition was the only operating system that offers 99.999% uptime guarunteed.
No to mention the fact that most of the Fortune 500 trusts Windows for their mission critical applications.
As far as flying... Jetblue is 100% Windows.
The fact of the matter is that Windows can be just as reliable, if not more so, as pretty much any other OS. It depends on the admins and the people writing the software that your business relies on. - shadcrkd, on 10/12/2007, -20/+5Windows always crashes, so go linux! What if they ran windows and it suddenly crashed and the planes went along with it? =P
- phpirate, on 10/12/2007, -36/+13Good thing they're using linux. Nobody can trust windows with their data, I can't imagine why anyone would trust windows in their life in the air.
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