Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

Thomas Lord

Fri Jun 06 17:18:22 -0700 2008

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Heh. So, you having a bad day, too?

-t

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

Michael Smith

Fri Jun 06 18:50:17 -0700 2008

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I googled around for a bit but I can't find any information about the operating system(s) used on Phoenix. Most likely commercial RTOS's like vxworks and qnx would predominate.

I once coded the back end and UI for a variable message sign system on VMS. The sign supplier did their system in windows95. Communications were through a dialup line and they struck a problem with the built in winsock. Somebody had to be there to click OK on Do you want to connect to the Internet? so they hooked into the mouse driver, warped the cursor to the location of the button and simulated a Button1 click.

One a different topic, I wonder how you feel about flying into Heathrow these days?

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

Bruce Perens

Fri Jun 06 21:40:35 -0700 2008

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Try here. Linux is obviously involved. Not that clear how.

I flew in to Heathrow on Sunday and out again on Wednesday. I spend all too much of my time on airplanes. Much of my work is in Europe.

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

WmHPowell

Fri Jun 06 20:39:33 -0700 2008

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Good one Bruce!

Sure glad M$ never got their grubby claws on the Prius. They sure caused enough trouble with the BMWs though.

Bill Powell

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

wowbagger

Sat Jun 07 06:12:33 -0700 2008

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BMW? Don't you mean Ford and their atrocious "Sync (powered by Microsoft)"? While I am a great fan of Ford's sedans, when it comes time for me to buy another vehicle, if all my choices from Ford come with Microsoft Inside, I will be looking elsewhere - that is an absolute deal-breaker for me.

Somebody announced they were looking into a Linux based telematics system (I know about Wind River (boy have THEY ever changed their tune on Linux!) but I thought one of the big European car manufacturers was looking into it). The morning coffee hasn't taken hold yet, so my Google-Fu is down a couple of dice and I cannot find it.

What I want are nice open buses and standards: I want to be able to plug my Kenwood into the car, and have the control head have a new set of buttons appear: VHF/UHF/MONI. I want the audio from the Kenwood to show up on the car speakers. I want to be able to monitor when the car doors open and close. I want speed, fuel consumption, and other engine data. I want my car's diagnostic codes available, in ENGLISH, on my N800's display — ALL OF THEM. I want to be able to plug a trailer in, and have the car be able to control the lights and brakes without extra controllers and other garbage. I want to be able to add a second voltmeter to the dash to monitor the second battery I have for my radio gear, without major surgery.

And I want to be able to have confidence that my car knows I AM ITS MASTER— not Bill Gates, not the state of Kansas, not Ford: ME. I want to know what data my car maintains, what it will reveal if asked (and what constitutes "asking"), and what orders it will respond to. I *don't* want my car recording where I've been, how fast I got there, what I was listening to while en-route, or anything else. I *don't* want my car "phoning in" its maintenance status or location unless *I* tell it to.

And the only real way I can even BEGIN to check these things is if I can read, change, compile, and load the firmware that my car runs on.

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

Verteiron

Sat Jun 07 08:18:06 -0700 2008

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Unfortunately you'll never see this happen unless it's legislated. The major car manufacturers make FAR too much money by implementing all-proprietary technology, and then charging their own dealerships outrageous sums of money for the equipment that can communicate with it.

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

WmHPowell

Sat Jun 07 11:57:25 -0700 2008

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How about shifting to 2nd at 85 MPH?
Or the "self opening" trunk?

"Consider BMW and its luxury 745i sedan. First released in Europe in November of 2001, the car contains around 70 microprocessors. Its most striking feature, iDrive, is what Car and Driver magazine classifies as a "miracle knob." This single element of the dashboard is designed, through a computerized console, to replace more than 200 buttons that control everything from the position of seats to aspects of the navigation of the car itself to climate, communications and entertainment systems.

The iDrive is powered in part by the stripped down version of Microsoft's operating system for personal computers known as Windows CE. Theoretically, Beemer drivers can adjust anything, move forward and not take their eyes off the road. But that assumes that iDrive is working.

A Worldwide Recall

http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200301/msg00180.html
http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=43493

Bp in his M$-free Prius

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

AB3A

Fri Jun 06 21:01:34 -0700 2008

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Could we make a section called "April Fool" for posts like this?  I mean, this has got to be a joke. 

Microsoft Protests Linux on Phoenix Mars Mission - Future Mars Probe Will Run Windows

refactored

Sun Jun 08 18:45:42 -0700 2008

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Especially with a name like "Bluescreen mission", it's not the 1st of April on some planet is it?