Who uses Linux? Everyone does…

Over the years I have spoken with many folks about using alternatives to Microsoft operating systems (a.k.a. Windows). Since I found and began advocating Linux distributions I have been asked many times “Why …?” and “Who uses it?”. I have also gotten statements that “Everyone uses Windows.”. Well, not everyone, I do not for one and there are others that I have helped migrate to a better solution to their computer woes.

Many people go under the impression that they MUST use Windows 7 for their computers to work. After all, they reason, NOBODY uses Linux seriously. They believe that Linux is a system for Geeks, computer gurus, or immature people whose greatest interest in the world is to play with code while they lead their unproductive lives. As the penguin is the system of losers, these people CLAIM they will never touch LINUX. So narrow-minded is that thought!

Millions of people, and thousands of companies around the world use Linux. Some governments are requiring the use of Linux and Open Source to ensure the security and stability of their networks and organizations.

I began suspecting Linux was more than what thought it really was, when I began a research on supercomputers and noticed that the five most powerful supercomputers run Linux, not Windows. In fact, in the world, very few of these impressively precise machines run on Windows…I guess that is because of the risk of the Blue Screen of Death.

Then I saw that Linux was the choice for servers, too. Later, I discovered that the US Army, Amazon, Wikipedia, and Google all run Linux. As a matter of fact, because of the hacking incident in China, Google banned Windows and made its employees either to run Linux or Mac… no exceptions period.

Finally, I realized that many mobile devices (cellphones, MP4s, etc.) and gaming consoles ALSO run Linux.

So, it turns out that most of us have been in contact with the penguin without even knowing about it and no one has complained.

I wonder what the real source of recalcitrance toward using Linux in our computers is…hmmm.

Truth be told, a vast number of companies and organizations are deploying Linux and running Linux in many places that you might not expect.

U.S. Department of Defense

According to Linux.com, the United States Department of Defense is the “single biggest install base for Red Hat Linux” in the world. Nor was it an unconscious choice, as Brigadier General Nick Justice, the Deputy Program Officer for the Army’s Program Executive Office proclaims “open source software is part of the integrated network fabric which connects and enables our command and control system to work effectively, as people’s lives depend on it.” Justice went on to state that “when we rolled into Baghdad, we did it using open source”, and that he was indeed Red Hat’s “biggest customer.”

U.S. Navy Submarine Fleet

FreeSoftwareMagazine.com reveals that “the US Navy nuclear submarine fleet is using GNU/Linux” as well.

The City of Munich, Germany

The city of Munich, Germany has “chosen to migrate its 14,000 desktops to a free Linux distribution, rather than a commercial version of the open source operating system” according to a 2005 ZD Net report. The distribution Munich chose was Debian, and is said to have “considered several alternatives before choosing Debian”, settling on it ultimately because of price and the degree to which it could be customized to meet Munich’s municipal computing needs. The German Foreign Office, as well as the city of Vienna, also opted to make the switch to Debian in 2005.

Spain

LWN.net maintains that Spain has long been the strongest supporter and user of Linux from a national government standpoint. Linux has spread rapidly throughout Spain since 2002, when the government of Extremadura actually created its own cutomized Linux distribution (called LinEx) based on Debian, using GNOME as its “default desktop environment.” Since then, the government “gave away the product CDs at every opportunity — in government offices, magazines and even daily newspapers” as part of a determined and ongoing effort to get LinEx out to everybody.” By handing out the software for free and continuing to publicize its availability, Linux spread from Extremadura throughout the rest of Spain and remains widely used today.

Federal Aviation Administration

Few government users of Linux appear to be happier with their choice to switch than the United States Federal Aviation Administration. According to Wikipedia, the FAA announced in 2006 that it “had completed a migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux in one third of the scheduled time and saved 15 million dollars” in the process of doing so. Score it another big-time government client for the Red Hat distribution of Linux.

French Parliament

French Parliament opted in November 2006 to dump Windows in favor of Ubuntu Linux, according to ZD Net The move was part of a comprehensive shake-up in the software run on Parliament computers, resulting ultimately in “1,154 French parliamentary workstations running on Linux, with OpenOffice.org productivity software, the Firefox Web browser and an open-source e-mail client.” Despite the training costs, Parliament officials named cost savings and technological superiority of open-source software for parliamentary purposes as reasons for the switch.

State-Owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

According to a 2005 InformationWeek report, the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China “decided to roll out Linux in all of its 20,000 retail branches.” As the largest bank in all of China, the institution committed to buying “an unrestricted user license” as part of a full-blown integration of Linux “throughout its entire banking operations network” culminating in 2008. At the time, InformationWeek stated that this represented the largest deployment of Linux to date in the Chinese financial sector. Essentially, Linux became “the basis for its web server and a new terminal platform” at the bank.

Pakistani Schools & Colleges

In 2002, the government of Pakistan launched a Technology Resource Mobilization Unit to promote the spread of open-source software (including Linux) throughout that country. The unit (comprised of academics, businesspeople and government officials) has largely succeeded in educating computer users throughout Pakistan about what free software has to offer. As a result, Pakistan is using Linux in many of its public schools and colleges and plans to ultimately run it on all of its government computer systems. In countries like Pakistan, where little money is available for government investment in technology, Linux and other open source software is appealing from a cost perspective.

Cuba

Cuba, never a fan of capitalism or corporate enterprise, took the step of developing its own Linux distribution (called “Nova”) to replace Microsoft Windows in February 2009. According toCarribean Net News, the switch to Linux was motivated not by technology or cost issues, but instead constituted “the latest front of the communist island’s battle against what it views as U.S. hegemony.” Nova was introduced during a conference held in the name of “technological sovereignty” and was touted as essential to Cuba’s “desire to replace the Microsoft software running most of the island’s computers.” Evidently, Cuban officials feared that U.S. security agencies could access Microsoft software code and in the process discover secrets belonging to the Cuban government. Whether or not Cuba’s switch to Linux has any practical effect on relations between the two countries is debateable, but they have been using Nova ever since.

Macedonia’s Ministry of Education and Science

Ubuntu.com reported in November 2007 that every student in Macedonia would use computer workstations powered by Ubuntu Linux, as part of that country’s “A Computer For Every Child” program. In total, more than 180,000 workstations were covered by the project, described as “one of the largest known thin client and desktop Linux deployments ever undertaken.” Indeed, Macedonia’s Minister for the Information Society dubbed it “the largest and most important education project undertaken in the 15-year history of the Republic of Macedonia.” Under the agreement, 160,000 of the 180,000 workstations were to be virtual PC terminals, while the other 20,000 were to be stand-alone PCs, all of which accomodated one student each and ran the Ubuntu Linux OS.

U.S. Postal Service

The U.S. Postal Service is a textbook example of a once-avowed Windows loyalist switching to Linux for purely technical reasons. While the Postal Service ran Windows NT on its servers until the bitter end, they then switched to using over 900 Linux clusters spead throughout the country for use in sorting the nation’s bulk mail. They use technology from Pacific Northwest Software, who proudly explains in-depth the work it has done in switching the Postal Service to a Linux-based infrastructure. Those interested are encouraged to check it out here.

U.S. Federal Courts

AAX.net explains that the U.S. Federal Courts rely on Linux for all manner of administrative tasks, including “case management, case tracking, finance and accounting, probation and pretrial services.” Linux has been used by the courts since November of 2003, when PEC Solutions assisted in orchestrating a “migration of the Federal Judiciary to a Linux-based system.”

Government of Mexico City

Wired.com reported in 2001 that the government of Mexico City had concluded that “they can no longer justify the ever rising cost of Microsoft Windows when the cost of Linux software is very low.” In an interview with Wired, the city’s technical coordinator, José Barberán, “announced plans to switch city computers to the Linux operating system and to use the money it saves to fund social welfare programs.” At the end of the day, when faced with pressure to increase social spending, “cutting costs by moving to open-source software was a logical choice for the mayor.”

Garden Grove, California

Perhaps the earliest governmental adopter of Linux on our list is Garden Grove, California, which made the switch all the way back in 1995, according to Linux Journal. Evidently, the city was in a cash crunch when it opted to give Linux a try, and found that it saved so much money that they later decided to roll out Linux across the city, including on some desktop systems.

Largo, Florida

A 2003 Linux.com article entitled “Largo Loves Linux More Than Ever” explains how the Floridian city came to rely so heavily on Linux software. After having such great success running city computers on Linux, Largo’s municipal government soon thereafter was “talking about Linux-based terminals in all the city’s police cars.” To their credit, Linux.com remarked that Largo’s system administrators (who are responsible for managing the city’s Linux machines) were “the least harassed, least worried, calmest sysadmins we have ever met.” Perhaps there is a correlation?

Czech Post

Perhaps taking a cue from the U.S. Postal Service, the Czech Republic’s own post office successfully migrated to Linux in 2005, according to Europa.The chosen distribution of Linux (SuSe) now runs on “4,000 servers at 3,400 post offices across the country, as well as at 12,000 client terminals used by 20,000 employees.” Once more, cost was a driving force behind a large state institution switching from Windows or other providers to free, open-source Linux.

Educational Users of Linux

Educational institutions, like businesses and government, have increasingly decided to roll out Linux on servers and desktop computers for their open-source and cost benefits. These institutions range from public schools (elementary, middle and high school) to colleges and post-graduate schools. Below are several of the most prominent educational establishments to have switched from Microsoft Windows to Linux.

Russian Schools

In 2007, the nation of Russia announced that all its schools would begin running Linux software. A BBC report on the matter stated that Russia’s “schools formerly tended to run illegal copies of Microsoft operating systems”, but that since Russia joined the WTO, that is no longer accepted practice. Therefore, rather than buy licenses for all the software it had been pirating, it opted to go with the free Linux operating system. While admitting that most teachers and students had no experience with Linux, Russia’s education officials nevertheless felt that the transition would go well and that the software would suit the purposes of schools.

German Universities

ComputerWeekly.com reported in August 2007 that “around 560,000 German students plus thousands of staff at 33 German universities will now be supported by Linux systems from Novell.” SuSe Linux Enterprise Desktop was the specific distribution chosen, evidently for the “more flexible IT architecture” that it provides “when compared to other proprietary software.”

The Phillipines

The switch to Linux is said to be “forging an education revolution” in the Phillipines, according to ComputerWorld. As they explain, “after a successful deployment of 13,000 Fedora Linux systems from a government grant, plans are underway to roll out another 10,000 based on Ubuntu” in that country. Apparently, Linux reached popularity because of its lower installation and maintenance costs in the Phillippines in the wake of 1997′s Asian financial crisis.

Georgia

Former Soviet state Georgia began “began running all its school computers and LTSP thin clients on Linux, mainly using Kubuntu, Ubuntu and stripped Fedora-based distros” back in 2004, according to Wikipedia. Add Georgia to the growing list of less-wealthy countries that opted to use Linux for cost reasons versus pay expensive licensing fees for Microsoft Windows.

The Indian State of Tamil Nadu

LinuxWatch.com told the story of how “after being put off by Microsoft’s bundling tactics for academic users”, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu decided instead to “distribute 100,000 Linux laptops to students there.” The laptops were to be sold to students for $800, a “considerable markdown compared to retail value.” While the government proposed to license Windows at $12 per copy, Microsoft stood firm at $57 per copy, prompting Tamil Nadu to go with Linux instead.

Switzerland Schools

Wikipedia also reports that Switzerland converted 9,000 of its computers to using Linux and OpenOffice.org’s suite of office productivity tools in its Geneva district in September, 2008. As has been seen by the licensing fees other software companies charge, there is often a compelling financial incentive to use Linux instead.

Bolzano, Italy

The town of Balzano in Italy (with a student population of 16,000) reportedly switched to using a customized distribution of Linux across all its schools in 2005.

Kerela, India

Rediff.com reported in September 2006 that from now on, in Kerela, India, “nearly 1.5 million students in the 2,650 government and government-aided high schools in the state will no longer use the Windows platform for computer education. Instead, they have switched over to the free GNU/Linux software.” Rather, they would now begin running Linux operating systems and accomplishing all word processing and spreadsheet tasks via OpenOffice.org software. An education official was quoted as saying “”we have decided that we will use only free software for computer education in Kerala schools” on the eve of a 56,000 teacher Linux training program.

One Laptop Per Child

The much-publicized One Laptop Per Child program was built around the OLPC XO-1, which, according to Wikipedia “is an inexpensive laptop running Linux, which will be distributed to millions of children as part of the One Laptop Per Child project, especially in developing countries.” Here, again, the low cost of Linux was a major factor in its inclusion.

Indiana Schools

CRN.com revealed in August 2006 that “more than 20,000 Indiana students are now Linux-enabled under a state grant program to roll out low-cost, easy-to-manage workstations.” The state’s Affordable Classroom Computers for Every Secondary Student program rapidly grew from “24 high schools to 80 high schools” after it became clear that software costs per computer ($100 prior to the migration) could be cut down to $5 using Linux and other open-source software. Districts get to choose which distribution of Linux their schools will run and have considerable control over the implementation.

Business Users of Linux

Businesses, as well as governments, have slowly begun to realize the various benefits that Linux and open source software can provide. In fact, given that costs are more important to the decision making of businesses than governments, they arguably have an even greater incentive to check it out. Below are several businesses that have made the switch or begun making the switch from Windows to Linux.

Novell

Longtime software and services company Novell announced in 2006 that it was undergoing a company-wide migration from Windows to Linux on employee desktop computers. As of April of that year, roughly half of Novell’s 5,000+ work force had migrated to Linux, with that figure expected to climb to 80% by November. It was a bold and sweeping change for such a large, established company, and it took over a year for the migration to take effect following its announcement in 2006.

Google

Believe it or not, the gigantic, ever-growing cluster of servers that power Google’s search and other apps runs Linux. Of course, in typical fashion, Google was not content to simply run an out of the box version on its own hardware. Intsead, the search giant had its engineers cook up a customized version of Ubuntu referred to within the company as “Goobuntu.” Linux is also frequently used internally on desktop machines, beyond its use on Google servers.

IBM

In addition to doing development work on Linux itself, IBM is known to use it internally on desktops and servers. IBM also ran a TV ad campaign in 2006 called “IBM Supports Linux 100%.” One of the commercials can be seen here. In the last decade, perhaps no larger company than IBM has contributed more to the success of Linux, both financially and developmentally.

Panasonic

Electronics giant Panasonic is another household name company to use Linux in powering some of its operations. Like several other firms on this list, Panasonic used Linux only after Windows NT proved woefully inadequate for what the company needed – voicemail systems, in this case. Rather than paying NT’s expensive license fees, Panasonic’s in-house developers created their own system incorporating Linux-based voicemail technology. Ultimately, the system they created was so successful that it grew to replace the Windows system completely, which has since been long discontinued.

Virgin America

Virgin America, a low-cost U.S. airline run by entrepreneurial big-shot Richard Branson, uses Linux to power its in-flight entertainment according to CrunchGear. The entertainment system (called RED) is powered by Red Hat and Fedora specifically, and was reportedly chosen because it is “very stable and agile.” After four years of development, RED hit the airways as a rousing success.

Cisco

Cisco Systems, the computer networking and routing giant, switched to Linux after vowing to use Microsoft’s Active Directory solution for its servers.” Indeed, the deal was so celebrated that Cisco management dubbed them to be an “all Microsoft” company according to AAX.net. In an imfamous turn of events, however, Cisco’s own IT staff could not get its network printign to work properly using Windows NT and were thus forced to switch to Linux, which has yet to cause similar problems to our knowledge.

ConocoPhillips

Never let it be said that Linux is a fringe operating system for inconsequential gizmos and gadgets. No stronger proof to the contrary exists that ConocoPhillips, which proudly uses Linux to power a massive (and massively important) cluster of servers aimed at exploring the earth for new sources of untapped oil. C-Net’s News.com reported in depth on the machine, which, largely due to using Linux, reportedly “costs a tenth of the average price of a conventional supercomputer.” Alan Huffman, then manager of Conoco’s seismic imaging technology center, claimed that the machine was capable of performing 500 billion calculations in a second.

Omaha Steaks

Omaha Steaks, a popular catolog-oriented steak retailer, switched to open-source Linux in 2001, according to JavaWorld.com. While they had previously been running internally with IBM AS/400 computers, they now operate a cluster of Linux serves in-house that both runs its corporate website and is connected to the AS/400 system. JavaWorld explains in-depth how migrating to Linux at the server level helped Omaha Steaks expand the wildly popular gift aspect of its business by integrating consumer information and lowering costs. Advertisements for this mail order company can be found in the back of most up-scale home oriented magazines. They were running their internal systems on an IBM AS/400 and outsourced their Web site, but they wanted to tie the on-line ordering directly into the AS/400. A cluster of Linux servers now runs the Web site and connects to the AS/400.

Amazon

Online book and electronics retail behemoth Amazon.com is said to “use Linux in nearly every corner of its business”, according to ZD Net. After Amazon “began to use Linux in 2000 for basic tasks”, Linux began speading through the company “notably the company’s database” system. A separate ZD Net post in 2001 referenced a document Amazon filed with the Securies & Exchange Commission stating that switching to Linux had saved the company $17 million. By 2004, it was reported that Amazon “had nine worldwide distribution centers with a total of 4.2 million square feet” and that essentially “everything that happens in them is driven by Linux.

Peugeot

European car maker Peugeot announced in 2007 that it was set to deploy up to 20,000 copies of Novell Desktop Linux and 2,500 copies of SuSe Linux Enterprise Server. eWeek reported that “unlike recent Novell Linux deals that were released with a great deal of fanfare, such as Novells recent sale, via Microsoft, to Wal-Mart, this deal appears to have been made solely on the Linux desktops own merits.” IT represenatives from Peugot remarked that they were pleased to discover how well supported and user-friendly Linux was upon checking it out.

Wikipedia

Popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia is another staunch supporter of Linux, having switched to Ubunto in 2008 after a lengthy tenure using Red Hat and Fedora prior to that. Ars Technicaexplains that “Wikimedia’s move to Ubuntu is part of an effort to simplify administration of the organization’s 400 servers” and that the switch “could help increase the distribution’s visibility in the Linux server market and demonstrate its viability in large-scale deployments.” It was no small gig for Ubuntu, which now powers the servers that spit out up to 10 billion page views a month on Wikipedia.

New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange is another perhaps unexpected business user of Linux. A ComputerWorld.com report on how London’s stock exchange was also “abandoning the failed Windows platform”, it was stated that New York’s exchange already used Linux to power its trading platform and furthermore that it “seems to be doing quite nicely.” InformationWeek revealed in 2008 that it was Red Hat Enterprise Linux, specifically, that the NYSE ran on its trading platform.

Burlington Coat Factory

Burlington Coat Factory, a retailer with 280 individual stores across 42 states, run Linux in their distribution centers and “a few new stores”, according to AAXNet.com. A full-fledged roll-out to all existing stores is underway, and 1,250 Dell computers with Linux pre-installed were evidently purchased “to support the effort” at transitioning fully from Microsoft Windows to Linux.

Raymour and Flannigan

NetworkComputing.com describes Raymour and Flannigan’s transition to Linux as “a major transformation” for the Syracuse-based furniture retailer, who switched all its servers to Linux back in 2002. According to company management, “it was easier to put Linux, rather than another operating system, on the older 486-based machines” that were available early on at Raymour and Flannigan. While Linux requires some manual configuration, NetworkComputing says, the benefits have largely outweighed the costs.

Tommy Hilfiger

LinuxJournal.com wrote that fashion magnate Tommy Hilfiger “chose eOneGroup and Linux for its new e-business infrastructure” way back in 2001. Company representatives were quoted as saying that “we saved significantly on the time and expense of deploying this total infrastructure”, as opposed to if another operating system provider had been chosen.

Toyota Motor Sales

AAX.Net reported years ago on a “30 dealer pilot roll-out” of a system using Linux to connect car dealerships to Toyota’s factories. The system was a “web based system from the ground up, and will be handling 30 different functions including parts ordering, warranties, sales transactions and repairs.” As the 30 dealer pilot was successful, Toyota promptly announced plans to roll out the Linux-based system to 1,200 other dealerships.

Travelocity

Travelocity (funny gnome guy and all) is yet another Internet business powered by Linux servers. According to NetworkWorld, Travelocity management cited their desire “to improve our flexibility and really decrease our time to market” as the chief reasons for choosing Linux over other alternatives. Management at Travelocity also admits to being “big fans of open source, from total cost of ownership and from the sharing/collaboration [creation processes], using tools developed by other people and having [easy access] to other people who have experience with them.”

Home & Scientific Uses of Linux

Finally, Linux has also found homes in various home and scientific capacities. From video game systems to science labs, Linux is playing an even bigger role in consumer technology. Below are several noteworthy examples.

Sony Playstation 3

While Linux is not pre-installed on the PS3, it was designed to allow easy installation of it and Gamespot revealed in 2006 that “Terra Soft Solutions is now making Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 available for download for the PS3.” Installing it requires a keyboard, USB cord and mouse, and for the user to “partition the PS3′s drive into two partitions so that the GameOS and Linux can run on dual partitions.”

Netbooks

Miniature laptops called Netbooks have become extremely popular in recent years, and often ship with minimalist distributions like Xandros or Linpus that are optimized to run efficiently using the limited resources Netbooks must use due to space and cost constraints.While Netbooks are still frequently sold with Microsoft Windows installed, they are shipped with Linux more than perhaps any other mass-market laptop around.

Some Dell Models

In recent years (particularly 2007-2008) distributions of Linux like Ubuntu have placed a higher than ever priority on user friendliness in efforts to capture some of the Windows market. Consequently, Dell and other mass-market PC manufacturers have taken to pre-loading Ubuntu and other distributions on their computers.

CERN

Cern uses Scientific Linux on a massive scale for mission-critical applications. FreeSoftwareMagazine, for instance, notes that Linux is powering the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider, a machine designed to do important subatomic research. CERN, it should also be noted, is where Tim Berners-Lee invented the hypertext link while working there in the 80′s as an independent contractor. CERN also runs Linux on its 20,000 internal servers.

Internet Archive

Anyone who has ever used the Wayback Machine to peer at the past of a website has unwittingly been served information by a throng of x86 servers running Linux — hundreds of them, in fact.

ASV Roboat

LinuxProMagazine.com reports that the ASV Roboat, a research craft designed to glean data about “the Pacific whale population in cooperation with the marine biology department of the Oregon State University”, is apparently powered by Linux software. It is a considerable test of Linux’s technological capabilities, as the craft is charged with “researching large geographic areas over long periods of time at low cost.” The ASV Roboat can be seen in the video posted above.

IBM iDataPlex in Canada

Canada’s largest supercomputer, the IBM iDataPlex (housed at the University of Toronto) is also powered by Linux. According to the Canadian Globe and Mail, the massive machine cost “$50-million to put together, and its brain takes up as much room as a warehouse full of refrigerators.” Its tasks are many and demanding, including running “more than 300 trillion calculations a second, simulating the Earth’s climate 100 years into the future in four days and helping researchers study cosmic background radiation.

I did not mention that Linux powers 446 from the world’s top 500 supercomputers…and that IBM chose Linux to run Sequoia, the most powerful supercomputer ever (to be built in 2

011)…or that the first film that was produced running Linux was Titanic…and that Cameron’s Avatar was also produced using Linux servers.

Here is a listing of Movie Studios utilizing Linux and movies that they produced:

Studios Using Linux

• Digital Domain
• Disney
• Double Negative
• DreamWorks Animation
• Flash Film Works
• Hammerhead
• Industrial Light & Magic
• Moving Picture Company
• Pixar
• Rhythm & Hues
• Sony Pictures
• Tippett
• Weta Digital

Dantes Peak [2/7/97] D2
Titanic [12/19/97] D2
Stuart Little [12/17/99] R&H
Little Nicky [11/10/00] R&H
Grinch [11/17/00] R&H
Sixth Day [11/17/00] R&H
Enemy at the Gates [3/16/01] Double Negative (England)
Cats & Dogs [4/4/01] R&H
Shrek [5/16/01] Dreamworks
Fast & the Furious [6/22/01] Hammerhead
Dr. Dolittle 2 [6/22/01] R&H
Final Fantasy [7/11/01] Square (ceased operations)
Planet of the Apes [7/27/01] R&H
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin [9/17/01] Double Negative
Harry Potter [11/16/01] R&H
Lord of the Rings 1 [12/19/01] Weta
Collateral Damage [2/8/02] Flash Film Works
Blade II [3/22/02] Tippett
Death to Smoochy [3/29/02] Flash Film Works
Star Wars E2 [5/16/02] ILM
Spirit [5/24/02] Dreamworks
Scooby-Doo [6/14/01] Rhythm & Hues
Haunted Lighthouse (IMAX) [summer 2002 Busch Gardens] Island Fever
Men In Black 2 [7/3/02] Tippett (limited Linux, chase scene through Manhattan)
XXX [8/9/2002] D2
Pluto Nash [8/16/02] Flash Film Works
Blue Crush [8/16/02] Hammerhead
Below [Q3 02] Double Negative
Santa Clause 2 [11/1/02] Tippett
Harry Potter 2 [11/15/02] (not confirmed this is Linux)
Star Trek Nemesis [12/13/02] D2
Lord of the Rings 2 [12/25/02] Weta (New Zealand)

Most big animation and effects movies since 2002 are Linux-based.

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” -Gandhi

Makes one wonder why, according to The Register, Microsoft spent $421 million to fight Linux in 2002, huh?

Not using desktop Linux? You’re wasting your money

There is a strong place for corporate desktop Linux — if you know where to put it

Let me be blunt: If you’re not using Linux on the desktop in call center and other fixed-purpose computing environments, you’re doing your company a disservice. Even if there were a need for Web browsing and email for those users, why would you pay for Windows on that system in this day and age?

And that’s not the only place where desktop Linux makes sense. If you get right down to it, there are many instances where the only requirements of the desktop are to act as a portal to a Web-based application and possibly run an email client. With the push toward Web-based internal apps, there’s little reason to require Windows at all. Heck, there’s almost no requirement for a desktop or the ability to run anything other than a compatible browser.

That’s where Linux on the corporate desktop comes in. No, I don’t think the CEO will be booting up Ubuntu anytime soon, nor do I think that the scores of administrative assistants and marketing folks will be logging into Fedora. However, in companies that have high numbers of desktops that run only one or two applications, it’s almost a no-brainer.

In fact, you can even consolidate all of those desktops. Armed with a few 12-core servers and a bunch of RAM, you can easily build a Linux terminal server infrastructure that would be surprisingly fast and agile, one that would run more sessions per server than you can shake a stick at — all without licensing, if you so choose. Naturally, you could buy Red Hat or Suse (does anyone run Suse anymore?) and cover your support bases, but you could also do this with Ubuntu Server, CentOS, or just about any other distribution.

You wouldn’t have to run Gnome or KDE; you could just run XFCE or another minimalist window manager. In fact, you could run Linux thin clients at the desktop, either commercially produced or homegrown. With a little elbow grease and some basic know-how, it’s likely that you could trim thousands of dollars off the IT budget this way — without reducing any capabilities or functions.

So why don’t we see this kind of Linux usage more often? Scared IT managers and a lack of skills, primarily. Even though setting up something like this is very simple, it’s not a nicely packaged solution that comes with a guy in a suit handing you flashy binders with pictures of smiling users and tchotchkes emblazoned with the company’s name. It doesn’t have a monthly or yearly software subscription cost. It doesn’t have a phone number.

Here’s the thing: Those don’t matter. You want support? Hire yourself one or two admins who can handle this infrastructure, and you’re paying your support costs. Weigh their salaries against the cost savings and come up with the ROI. It pains me to think that there are so many instances where the right idea and the right technology are passed over because they’re unfamiliar and therefore threatening.

The case can certainly be made that nobody ever got fired for buying IBM, but then again, it’s obvious that not everyone was buying IBM, either.

In IT, it’s important to be able to own your infrastructure, to have access to the skills necessary to bail you out in a pinch, and to properly improve the infrastructure. But it’s also important to cast off old ideas and thought processes when presented with a better — albeit unfamiliar — concept.

It’s like there’s no force in the universe – even recessions and the bottom line – that can stop people from lining up to give Microsoft their money.

Ubuntu tablets due early 2011

Ubuntu-based tablets could hit the market as early as the first quarter of 2011, says a Canonical exec. Ubuntu developer Canonical is currently working on a tablet-specific Ubuntu OS for future devices. The tablet operating system will feature a touch-friendly UI and will be built from a lightweight version of Linux, possible Ubuntu’s upcoming 10.10 version, which the company calls “Maverick Meerkat.”

The company is reportedly working with hardware and component makers, including Freescale, Marvell and Texas Instruments to develop the device, which they hope will be ready for the Q1 2011. Intel and Pixel Qi also involved to help manage the tablet’s power needs.

“The devices world is a really exciting space right now and we’re really bullish on it,” Canonical VP of alliances and OEM services told Network World.

Canonical currently offers Ubuntu 10.04 for PCs, servers and netbooks. It plans to combine the tablet OS and netbook OS into one system called “Ubuntu Light.”

Zero-Day Windows Vulnerabilities, Critical Internet Explorer Vulnerabilities

Summary: Among the vulnerabilities that Microsoft actually chooses to tell the public about there is a zero-day XP vulnerability and critical ones involving Internet Explorer (the “secure” Web browser)

• Google researcher gives Microsoft 5 days to fix XP zero-day bug

A Google engineer today published attack code that exploits a zero-day vulnerability in Windows XP, giving hackers a new way to hijack and infect systems with malware.

But other security experts objected to the way the engineer disclosed the bug — just five days after it was reported to Microsoft — and said the move is more evidence of the ongoing, and increasingly public, war between the two giants.

• Microsoft Warns of Windows Bug Found by Google Engineer

• Olympus Stylus Tough camera carries malware infection

The first thing to point out is that the camera itself is not at risk – the autorun worm being carried on its internal memory can not activate on the Stylus Tough camera, but can attempt to infect your Windows PC.

• Microsoft Patches Critical IE, Windows Vulnerabilities (let’s remember silent patches which Microsoft will never disclose)

• Not Paranoid Enough

Dell Says Ubuntu Is Safer Than Windows and we agree!

In a brief but bold statement, Dell’s U.S. website suggests that Ubuntu is safer than Microsoft Windows, especially for customers looking to avoid viruses. The statement, also suggests that Dell will begin shipping Ubuntu 10.04 on selected U.S. systems sometime in mid-2010. Truth to the matter is they *are* correct, and I add a mention that it is more robust and a more efficient system overall.

Visit, Dell’s web site (www.dell.com/ubuntu) and you’ll find a “Top Ten” list of “things you should know about Ubuntu.” Item number 6 on Dell’s list states:

In addition, Dell describes why Ubuntu may appeal to customers and compares features customers would expect from a Windows operating system.

On the one hand, Dell states the obvious: Hackers target Windows (rather than Linux) because of Microsoft’s massive installed base, and poor design. But on the other hand, it takes guts for a major PC maker to state — in black and white — that Canonical’s Ubuntu is safer than Windows. The move will surely ruffle some feathers in Redmond, and one can only wonder if Microsoft will come calling to pressure Dell to retract the assertion…Among the reasons listed: Ubuntu, Dell says, is a safer choice than Windows because so many viruses are written to target Windows.  Dell also hints that Ubuntu 10.04 preloads could arrive on Dell U.S. systems in mid-2010. That certainly represents some progress for Dell, which typically sticks with older Ubuntu releases as its preload options.

Either way, Dell’s Ubuntu endorsement arrives as Canonical tries to line up more Ubuntu hardware partners.

No doubt, Dell remains committed to Windows 7. But Dell’s decision to ship Google Android-based tablets and Ubuntu 10.04 systems reinforces a hard fact: PC industry leaders continue to seek alternatives to Windows, especially in emerging markets like mobile devices.

Ubuntu 10.04 is a long-term support (LTS) release that launched in April 2010. The offering has been generally well-received and is designed for longer-term commitments from customers and partners.

But back the story at hand: Is Dell’s statement — suggesting Ubuntu is safer than Windows — really news? Perhaps not. But it does take guts for a major PC vendor to endorse Ubuntu at a time when Microsoft is aggressively pushing Windows 7.

To see who is running Ubuntu these days check out the following:

Tracking more than 380 deployments so far. Fill out this quick survey to have your organization added to the list below. We update the list the first Tuesday of each month.

• WorksWithU 1000, A-C
• WorksWithU 1000, D-F
• WorksWithU 1000, G-I
• WorksWithU 1000, J-L
• WorksWithU 1000, M-O
• WorksWithU 1000, P-R
• Works With U 1000, S-U
• Works With U 1000, V-Z

Plus: A Few Bonus Items

• Top Ubuntu Server Edition deployments from the WorksWithU 1000
• Top Ubuntu Desktop Edition deployments from the WorksWithU 1000
• Top Ubuntu mobile deployments from the WorksWithU 1000

Microsoft Patches At Least 34 Bugs Including Pwn2Own Vulnerability

What a massive mother-load of patches Microsoft has unleashed on this month patching more than 34 security vulnerabilities including the fairly high profile vulnerability exploited at the Pwn2Own contest earlier this year in April.

Good news as long as all the average Internet users actually use Windows Update and install the latest patches, which somehow I find extremely unlikely. It’s also good news for corporates stuck using Microsoft solutions as long as they have a good patch management solution for their network.

Microsoft on Tuesday patched at least 34 security holes in a wide range of software, including a bug in its Internet Explorer browser that fetched a researcher $10,000 at a hacker contest in April. In all, Microsoft released 10 bulletins, three of which were rated “critical” because they allowed attackers to remotely install malware on victim machines. Other affected products include Windows, Office, Internet Information Services, and SharePoint.

The IE update fixes a vulnerability that fetched Peter Vreugdenhil, a researcher with Netherlands-based Vreugdenhil Research, $10,000 during the Pwn2Own contest at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver. He was able to take full control of the Windows 7 machine despite protections known as DEP, or data execution prevention, and ASLR, or address space layout randomization.

It’s pretty rare there’s 3 critical vulnerabilities in one shot, but well we are talking about Microsoft aren’t we. They seem to getting their act together when it comes to patching, perhaps the pressure from Firefox fixing things so quickly is getting to them.

Even Safari is kicking their ass when it comes to fixing problems. But that’s the inherent problem with Microsoft, they have so many projects and platforms, so much spaghetti code and legacy issues it prevents them from releasing stable patches in a timely manner.

They are designed to mitigate the severity of software bugs by randomizing the memory locations of code and preventing code loaded into memory from being able to be executed. Vreugdenhil was able to bypass those protections by combining two separate vulnerabilities.

The Microsoft fixes came the day after Apple fixed almost 50 vulnerabilities in its Safari browser, including a decade-old history leak that still plagues all other browsers. Microsoft has a summary here.

Safari also unleashed a massive update this past Monday including fixing the history leak.

Pwn2Own – What browser and OS are the safest to use?

Pwn2Own is a computer hacking contest held at the annual CanSecWest security conference, beginning in 2007. Contestants are challenged to exploit specific software (especially web browsers and other web related software) / computing platform targets. Contestant winners receive the device/computer that was successfully exploited and a cash prize.

For each successful exploit, the contest’s sponsor, TippingPoint, provides a report to the applicable vendor, detailing the vulnerability and how it was exploited. The details are not released to the public until the vendor has corrected the vulnerability.

Summary: The results of pwn2own is definately a major factor in choosing a browser. The winner was Google Chrome due to its implementation of each tab being sand-boxed from the operating system.

The Competition started at March 24, 2010 and had a total cash prize pool of $100,000. On March 15—nine days before the contest was to begin—Apple released sixteen patches for WebKit and Safari.

Software to exploit

$40 000 of the $100 000 are reserved for web browsers, where each target is worth $10,000.

Day 1

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7
• Mozilla Firefox 3.6 on Windows 7
• Google Chrome 4 on Windows 7
• Apple Safari 4 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Day 2

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista
• Mozilla Firefox 3 on Windows Vista
• Google Chrome 4 on Windows Vista
• Apple Safari 4 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Day 3

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP
• Mozilla Firefox 3 on Windows XP
• Google Chrome 4 on Windows XP
• Apple Safari 4 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Target: Mobile Phones

$60,000 of the total $100,000 cash prize pool is allotted to the mobile phone portion of the contest, each target is worth $15,000.

• Apple iPhone 3GS
• RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700
• Nokia E72 device running Symbian
• HTC Nexus One running Android

Successful exploit

• Charlie Miller successfully hacked Safari 4 on the Mac OS X.
• Peter Vreugdenhil exploited Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7 by using two vulnerabilities that involved bypassing ASLR and evading DEP.
• Nils hacked Firefox 3.6 on Windows 7 64-bit by using a memory corruption vulnerability and bypass ASLR and DEP. Mozilla patched the security flaw in Firefox 3.6.3.
• Ralf Philipp Weinman and Vincenzo Iozzo hacked the iPhone 3GS by bypassing the digital code signatures used on the iPhone to verify that the code in memory is from Apple.

It is interesting to see how different companies approached this event:

Mozilla acknowledged the bug, fixed it in 10 days, publicly announced it as critical, and fixed it in a previous version just in case .

Microsoft made a public statement saying that it will be fixed, and that’s all folks, at least for now.

Apple with Safari is all secrecy.

Ubuntu – Mark Shuttleworth turned down Microsoft’s offer that “you can’t refuse”

Linux Magazine: “Microsoft Has Already Approached Canonical Pressuring Them to Sign up to a Patent Deal, But They Turned it Down.”

Microsoft Making Windows XP Illegal for Use on the Internet?

Summary: As ISPs may prepare to require full patching as a precondition to connecting, what does Microsoft’s refusal to patch actually mean?

THE PREVIOUS post showed that Windows is now at risk of being kicked off the Internet if it cannot be properly secured (it hardly can). This gets worse though.

Mentioned the other day was the fact that Microsoft is leaving Windows XP vulnerable with no intention of patching known security bugs. That, by definition, may render Windows XP unsuitable for use on the Internet; it cannot ever be made fully patched and since there is no access to the source code, only one company rules on the matter. As the debate carries on, Slashdot reveals that Microsoft is indeed saying “no” to patching of XP.

Microsoft says it won’t patch Windows XP for a pair of bugs it quashed Sept. 8 in Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. The news adds Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and SP3 to the no-patch list that previously included only Windows 2000 Server SP4. ‘We’re talking about code that is 12 to 15 years old in its origin, so backporting that level of code is essentially not feasible,’ said security program manager Adrian Stone during Microsoft’s monthly post-patch Webcast, referring to Windows 2000 and XP.

Here is the newly-cited report.

Microsoft late last week said it won’t patch Windows XP for a pair of bugs it quashed Sept. 8 in Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

The news adds Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and SP3 to the no-patch list that previously included only Windows 2000 Server SP4.

[...]

The bugs in question are in Windows’ implementation of TCP/IP, the Web’s default suite of connection protocols. All three of the vulnerabilities highlighted in the MS09-048 update were patched in Vista and Server 2008. Only two of the trio affect Windows Server 2000 and Windows XP, Microsoft said in the accompanying advisory, which was refreshed on Thursday.

[...]

During the Q&A, however, Windows users repeatedly asked Microsoft’s security team to explain why it wasn’t patching XP, or if, in certain scenarios, their machines might be at risk. “We still use Windows XP and we do not use Windows Firewall,” read one of the user questions. “We use a third-party vendor firewall product. Even assuming that we use the Windows Firewall, if there are services listening, such as remote desktop, wouldn’t then Windows XP be vulnerable to this?”

Amazing!

Does that mean that Microsoft intends to stop sales of XP on all machines? What about the fact that Vista 7’s principal feature is virtualisation of XP? How can that be secured? What about the many existing users?

“What about the many existing users?”“Since Linux is faster and easier to use on the netbooks,” tells us a reader, “Microsoft is still shipping XP in order to hang on to the OEM monopoly. Yet at the same time the official party line is that there will be no patches for XP.

“Do you suppose Microsoft employees managed to lose or erase the source code for that part of XP?”

Could Microsoft be trying to urge people to abandon XP? If so, Vista 7 sure seems like a problem because not only does it rely on XP but it is already a problematic downgrade/upgrade (no genuine consensus or verdict on whether it’s an “upgrade” yet). Ars Technica claims that it can take an entire day just to move to this operating system, even on a fast machine. The source of the claim is Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft: Windows 7 upgrade can take nearly a day

[...]

The biggest thing that stands out about this chart is the very broad range of the upgrade time: from 30 minutes to 1,220 minutes. That second extreme is not a typo: Microsoft really did time an upgrade that took 20 hours and 20 minutes. That’s with 650GB of data, 40 applications, on mid-end hardware, and during a 32-bit upgrade. We don’t even want to know how long it would take if Microsoft had bothered doing the same test with low-end hardware.

Assuming a wage of roughly $100 per day, the price of Vista 7 sure is higher than the price tag suggests. And what about the cost of insecurity?

Comparative Test Problems – Hardware, Windows7 and Linux

Today I visited a relative, and remembered that he had a Samsung printer that I helped him install about a month ago. I took along my laptop to see if it would work in Ubuntu via USB.

Since he has no Internet access I was full expecting failure since I would not be able to download or install any drivers if they were needed.

I must admit that what happened surprised me a little.

It Just Works (TM)

I switched on the printer and plugged in the USB cable. Immediately I started to click through to the printer setup area to see if I could set it up. Suddenly my eye caught a little dialog popup next to my network monitor.

I was a bit incredulous, and thought an error message might pop up any moment asking for a driver or some other failure. This is Linux, remember, Linux that does not support hardware. (In fact it is the other way around – The hardware does not support Linux, but let’s not get into that right now…)

After a few moments the much maligned Ubuntu notification popped up telling me that I have a working printer!

For those who are keeping score Ubuntu vs Win7, there were literally no mouse clicks involved. I am still mulling over the inclusion of a printer setup test for my reviews since that again borders on a hardware test, and I can guarantee that someone will inform me that my tests are invalid because of x or y. I simply do not have the resources to test every available printer out there for Linux compatibility.

That said, if this is anything to go by, things do not bode well for Windows at all as a comparative test. I doubt that I will be using this particular Samsung as the test printer, simply because I know it needs no setup to work.