[Linux-aus] [link] GROKLAW - Is It True the DoD Loves Linux? [Oh yes indeedy!]

[Leon Brooks]

    http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040216213026637

First 3 pars:

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The US Army loves embedded Linux. The "soldier of the future" and 
battlefield communications will all be created on top of Linux. 
Embedded solutions can be found in a variety of vehicles for 
situational awareness and "blue force tracking" (good guys). You need 
low power chips in such an envirorment, so processors like ARM are very 
popular. With Linux you have the code, it's secure, it ports very 
easily to a variety of platforms, and development costs are very, very 
low. Embedded Linux is a favorite for many communications systems. 

The Intelligence Community loves Linux as well. I'm sure you've seen the 
stories about Secure Linux from the NSA (which was just added to the 
2.6 kernel). Just like in the real world, you find it in the back room 
on the Power User's workstation and on the servers. If you compare the 
price of Secure Linux on Intel multiprocessor workstations verses 
Trusted Solaris on Sun HW, you save a boatload of money. 

I used Linux on a USAF project during the Kosovo conflict. We pulled the 
prototype out of my lab and wired a variety of locations throughout 
Italy with Samba data servers and Perl coded robots that surfed for 
data and cataloged it directly into MySQL databases. The databases were 
accessible via apache and PHP. We were credited with helping to save 
the life of a downed pilot because all the critical information was 
immediately available to commanders and the Special Ops team in their 
helicopters doing the extraction. One of the downed pilots was a 
commander we had met while wiring his intel shop a week before he was 
shot down. Seeing him back at work 48 hours later is still the best 
"Thank You" I've ever received for my efforts at work. You can read the 
unclassified version of the story online. It doesn't call out Linux 
explicitly, but we used first and second generation Cobalt servers 
running early versions of RedHat 4.x. You can barely see the server 
sitting under the laptop in the cover photo. 

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Cheers; Leon

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Vice President, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://linux.org.au/            Past Committee Member, Linux Australia