Linux in space

Thread Starter

nerdegutta

Joined Dec 15, 2009
2,684
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/155392-international-space-station-switches-from-windows-to-linux-for-improved-reliability

"...Linux is the scientific community’s operating system of choice. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider is controlled by Linux. NASA and SpaceX ground stations use Linux. DNA-sequencing lab technicians use Linux. Really, for applications that require absolute stability, which most scientific experiments are, Linux is the obvious choice. The fact that the entire OS is open source and can be easily customized for each experiment is obviously a very big draw, too.
..."
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Actually this goes beyond malware. I have seen Linux servers sit years unattended. The only contact with a person was to bring the onboard clock back into line. Most OSes simply are not that stable, no maleware required.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
Bill,

All this will be changing in the future. As more and more attacks on computer systems occur, we will be seeing Unix and Linux more in the mix. Of course when these systems are breached, there is little news about them. When common folk's computers are breached, it's BIG news. Those who own compromised Unix and Linux systems are not going hold press conferences, unless they absolutely have no other choice. Case in point was the "VA's social security number" fiasco a few years back.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
Since then, Linux has completely taken over just about every segment of computing, except for personal computers.
Joey,

Are you saying that a bank or any other institution is going to tell you when their system's been breached? They don't want that publicity. Yes, the article was from 2006. As an OS becomes more popular, it will come under attack. Just because your personal servers haven't been breached, consider yourself lucky. Your servers may or may not be high on the target list. There are government systems, banking systems, defense systems, that are above you on the "hackers" list.

Of course, your systems could be a proving ground, a test-bed. If they don't do more than steal some resources, what are the chances of you catching them?

Here's one from 2011 http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/232137/scitech/hackers-attack-linux-foundation-site-anew

here's something about a backdoor .... http://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2013/05/Linux-Cdorked.A-Sophisticated-Apache-Backdoor.html

719,000 listings for +"hacker attack" +"linux" +"unix" 2013
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
You are still talking malware, which is not the same as stability. Stability is the ability to run months or years with no manual intervention. Linux has withstood the test, unlike other OS's.

Security is a completely separate issue. I suspect Linux will shine there, due to the nature of open source (almost seems paradoxical, doesn't it?). The old quote, "Many eyes make all bugs small" applies here.
 

Thread Starter

nerdegutta

Joined Dec 15, 2009
2,684
The article is about OS stability, not malware.

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I had a Red Hat 6.2 server, standing from 1995 to 2003. Only time it was off was when the power went down. I had it as a samba file server and an Apache web server for development.

Now I have several linux driven servers running. Some on real hardware and some virtual. Never have to do anything with them. Just like the old air-ground missile Maverick. Fire and forget! :D
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...rom-windows-to-linux-for-improved-reliability

"...Linux is the scientific community’s operating system of choice. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider is controlled by Linux. NASA and SpaceX ground stations use Linux. DNA-sequencing lab technicians use Linux. Really, for applications that require absolute stability, which most scientific experiments are, Linux is the obvious choice. The fact that the entire OS is open source and can be easily customized for each experiment is obviously a very big draw, too.
..."
Yeah, I know this thread is real old and all. But it's the perfect thread for sharing this piece news without having to open a new one.

It seems that (surprise!) Microsoft has stabbed CERN in the back... so no, LINUX is not CERN'S system of choice... Make your customers 100% dependent on you, and then screw them for their money... just typical...

https://www.engadget.com/amp/2019/06/13/cern-microsoft-alternatives-project-open-source-software/

For the last 20 years, CERN -- home of the Large Hadron Collider -- has been using Microsoft products under a discounted "academic institution" rate. But in March, at the end of its previous contract, Microsoft revoked CERN's academic status.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,087
Yeah, I know this thread is real old and all. But it's the perfect thread for sharing this piece news without having to open a new one.

It seems that (surprise!) Microsoft has stabbed CERN in the back... so no, LINUX is not CERN'S system of choice... Make your customers 100% dependent on you, and then screw them for their money... just typical...

https://www.engadget.com/amp/2019/06/13/cern-microsoft-alternatives-project-open-source-software/
https://home.cern/news/news/computing/malt-project
It's mainly the IS dept. that runs the typical MS suite of office products. The engineering/scientific end runs Linux.
http://linux.web.cern.ch/linux/

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=CERN-Microsoft-Alternatives
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
On a side note: Linux is promoted here at the Uni in the CS department, IT, IS, they are told high paying companies will higher with job security, they want programmers who understand Linux, the good part is if you write the files system it becomes your proprietary baby. I think I would move over to linux, once I'm retired, I won't be able to afford Apple products, running linux might be the way to go.

kv
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
What do you mean? English, please.
Writing the file system along with control software, depending on the software designer might write it in a way not so intelligible for another designer to understand. My lack of knowledge about programming might be just something I framed, I do know my Brother In-law wrote software that other programmers couldn't integrate with the Black Box at Boeing, his job was insured when they wanted Pre Flight, Mid Flight, and post Flight data. So I just thought maybe that could be the case with Server & Database software.

kv
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
5,237
Writing the file system along with control software, depending on the software designer might write it in a way not so intelligible for another designer to understand. My lack of knowledge about programming might be just something I framed, I do know my Brother In-law wrote software that other programmers couldn't integrate with the Black Box at Boeing, his job was insured when they wanted Pre Flight, Mid Flight, and post Flight data. So I just thought maybe that could be the case with Server & Database software.

kv
I doubt he wrote his own "file system", though this is possible with FOSS. Had he done so, it would have required deep integration into the Linux kernel, likely triggering the requirement that he distribute his changes to the public -- assuming he published his application beyond his own private use.

OTOH, he may have just obfuscated the data he was writing to a standard file system -- always a danger regardless of OS. This is why I avoid proprietary systems. It's called "vendor lock-in", allowing your vendor to hold your data hostage to his whims.

For all except the most specialized of software, I try to only use apps that utilize open standards for their file formats. A good example is ODF -- Open Document Format -- as used in the LibreOffice and other office suites. Even if LibreOffice goes the way of the dodo, pretty much as OpenOffice has, the file format is known and reproducible. There will always be "another way" for me to access my documents.

Finally, it's always possible that your BIL was not all that good of a programmer -- and other programmers simply could not make sense of his code. I've seen this innumerable times, and it bugs me to no end. My rule for code: document, document, document. Assume you'll be dead someday, and someone else will need to take over your code.
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
I doubt he wrote his own "file system", though this is possible with FOSS. Had he done so, it would have required deep integration into the Linux kernel, likely triggering the requirement that he distribute his changes to the public -- assuming he published his application beyond his own private use.

OTOH, he may have just obfuscated the data he was writing to a standard file system -- always a danger regardless of OS. This is why I avoid proprietary systems. It's called "vendor lock-in", allowing your vendor to hold your data hostage to his whims.

For all except the most specialized of software, I try to only use apps that utilize open standards for their file formats. A good example is ODF -- Open Document Format -- as used in the LibreOffice and other office suites. Even if LibreOffice goes the way of the dodo, pretty much as OpenOffice has, the file format is known and reproducible. There will always be "another way" for me to access my documents.

Finally, it's always possible that your BIL was not all that good of a programmer -- and other programmers simply could not make sense of his code. I've seen this innumerable times, and it bugs me to no end. My rule for code: document, document, document. Assume you'll be dead someday, and someone else will need to take over your code.
All could be in the end the same, don't think it was linux but, all the above might be true. If they wanted to keep it in hand would lend to the use of someone willing to take on the code, from his hands. If he dies could be a problem I guess, with an Eidetic memory could prove an issue for those wanting to script beyond his ability.

kv
 
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