NASA dumping Windows for Linux

Quadophile

Quadophile

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“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, we could.”
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About time they made a change. I was watching a clip on Youtube about the international space station and they are still using Windows 2000 on their laptops :fool:
 
Sounds like a good idea. Can you imagine the mayhem if they tried launching a rocket using Windows 8?! :eek:
 
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...rom-windows-to-linux-for-improved-reliability

The United Space Alliance, which manages the computers aboard the International Space Station in association with NASA, has announced that the Windows XP computers aboard the ISS have been switched to Linux. “We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable.”
In specific, the “dozens of laptops” will make the change to Debian 6. These laptops will join many other systems aboard the ISS that already run various flavors of Linux, such as RedHat and Scientific Linux. As far as we know, after this transition, there won’t be a single computer aboard the ISS that runs Windows. Beyond stability and reliability, Keith Chuvala of the United Space Alliance says they wanted an operating system that “would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust or adapt, we could.” It’s worth noting that the ISS laptops used to run Windows XP, and we know they’ve been infected by at least one virus in their lifetime: in 2008, a Russian cosmonaut brought a laptop aboard with the W32.Gammima.AG worm, which quickly spread to the other laptops on board. Switching to Linux will essentially immunize the ISS against future infections.
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I seem to recall that not so long ago I was quite firmly told that GNU/Linux was not reliable and usable enough for daily use.Glad I never listened. :lol:
 
Abarbarian said:
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...rom-windows-to-linux-for-improved-reliability



I seem to recall that not so long ago I was quite firmly told that GNU/Linux was not reliable and usable enough for daily use.Glad I never listened. :lol:
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By whom?

I always assumed it was common knowledge amongst anybody faintly geeky that most Linux distros were more stable than Redmond's finest.

NASA's just another user to add to a huge roster of notable Linux users, which is kinda heartwarming :)

Having said that, I still like Win 7. Microsoft are sometimes their own worst enemy, their favourite ways of shooting themselves in the foot seem to be greed and foul play. Which is probably not an indication of any MS OS's stability but still, I just had to say that ;)
 
floppybootstomp said:
By whom?

I always assumed it was common knowledge amongst anybody faintly geeky that most Linux distros were more stable than Redmond's finest.

NASA's just another user to add to a huge roster of notable Linux users, which is kinda heartwarming :)

Having said that, I still like Win 7. Microsoft are sometimes their own worst enemy, their favourite ways of shooting themselves in the foot seem to be greed and foul play. Which is probably not an indication of any MS OS's stability but still, I just had to say that ;)
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Well I had the feeling that I heard it here on site flops. Searched back to 2009 in the linux section but no comments there. I recon it was either before that or in some other section. twer only a teas comment anyway.

An yes 7 is pretty stable, apart from a few updates that have cost quite a few folks a lot of time, trouble and lost files.
An your comments on shooting feet are spot on. If they were a bit more honest and decent in their business practices then I would hardly raise a moan about them.

:cool:
 
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