[Linux-aus] [Fwd: Re: [xxxxxxx] FW: Re: S.A. Parliament - Ubuntu Matter of Interest]

[Jon maddog Hall]

purserj at k-sit.com said:
> That is why it is currently used mostly for running non-critical or 
> highly expensive infrastructure (which require less reliability). So it 
> remains largely with enthusiasts and much of the commercial use is found 
>   to be delivering non critical web content, internet services and other 
> non critical internet-related services.

I have just come from Caixa, the Federal bank of Brazil, that has over 40,000,000
customers and manages Brazil's social security program and lottery system.

They have just finished switching from a proprietary solution in their remote
terminals that handle the lottery and the input to their banking system (more or
less like a super-sophisticated ATM machine) to Debian Linux, using JAVA as a
language for application development.

Their reasons for the change?

"It used to take us months to get the proprietary company to implement changes.  Now
we can do the same thing in days."

and

"This [the lottery] is a mission critical application.  We needed an operating
system that was dependable."

I might add that the Uruguay lottery system is also based on embedded Linux.

Warmest regards,

md

P.S. I bought a lottery ticket through their system.  I have not checked the numbers yet this morning..
...wish me luck. :-)
-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux International(R)
email: maddog at li.org         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
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