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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Linux in the military (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 months ago by Tekkip20@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

59 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So it's no secret that some parts of the army in the USA and my country (UK) sometimes use legacy software like DOS for niche roles as they're robust including older versions of Windows.

But.. where does Linux fit in this? It's a kernel OS that's used in top of the line supercomputers, workstations, medical equipment and weather stations.

I imagine some aspects of this would be military secrets but how do they use it? I know that Linux was used for certain space projects with NASA but I'm talking about army applications.

TLDR : Does the penguin OS power shooty shooty machines and tanks

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[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago (4 children)

as they're robust

I would argue they are just what was used during development. After that, it never changes.

Why did they use it back then? Were there many alternatives? I do not know.

[–] xyguy@startrek.website 8 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I haven't done any work for the military but i can say that all the legacy systems I've worked on were because the specific software they need was written only for Windows 98 and the developer or company that created it is long gone. Keeping it going is a chore but switching to literally anything else is out of the question.

I could see for military applications that having the known quantity of a working piece of software that isn't changing anymore and can be swapped as an entire unit is an advantage, especially if it doesn't touch the internet in any capacity. But eventually you run out of people who know what to do if any changes need to be made.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 months ago

It probably depends how many billions are going into it.

[–] Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 months ago

For stuff that is still maintained but also legacy, military and contracting benefit from being a pretty insular community. Contractors are full of military retirees. What this does is give a pool of people who worked with the products for a very long time on one side who move over into maintaining them on the other, less knowledge is lost. It still happens and things must change eventually, but they manage to delay things where someone else like a bank might have a harder time when their knowledgeable employee leaves and they’re hiring people off the street.

[–] 0x0@programming.dev 2 points 4 months ago

COBOL has entered the room... although i've heard Ada is more popular in military applications.