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Sir Finkus writes:
"As Microsoft begins to end support for Windows XP, many ATM operators are investigating Linux as an alternative. Microsoft will no longer provide updates for the operating system, which currently powers nearly 95% of the world's ATMs.
Operators say that they'd like to be able to upgrade their machines and operating system at the same time. They are also hampered by the high cost of upgrading machines and regulatory requirements. With the lifetime of a typical ATM being 10-15 years, companies would value more flexible upgrade schedules."
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ATM Operators Eye Linux as Windows XP Support Ends
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Cum tacent, clamant. When they are silent, they shout. -Cicero
(Score: 1) by Tork on Monday March 24 2014, @05:59PM
I don't understand why this is some sort of surprise. Surely when they started this deal with Microsoft they had a fair idea that they were going to have to upgrade Windows and pay money for it. Why they didn't go with the approach where they'd actually have the source code to work from... well that's beyond me.
I bet there's a bunch of software architects saying "SEE I TOLD YOU!!!" Heh.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Monday March 24 2014, @06:05PM
I would imagine they're paying significant support fees as well. As I keep telling people when proprietary gets purchased over open-source even when the open source is clearly superior and has available support: "Open source doesn't buy golf outings or vacations for the purchasing people".
(Score: 1) by Tork on Monday March 24 2014, @06:14PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 5, Interesting) by LaminatorX on Monday March 24 2014, @06:26PM
"Open source doesn't buy golf outings or vacations for the purchasing people."
This, a thousand times, this. At work, our rack full of video transcoding servers were about to go end-of-life, and the vendor was drooling over the pile of cache we'd need for their newer hardware/software specific-high-end-GPU-optimised hot-mess of a replacement. Meanwhile we wrote up some scripts using ffmpeg/ffmbc that would do the job better on our existing hardware quite nicely.
I kid you not that the hardest part wasn't development, deployment, or testing, but getting the suits to sign off on it, and this in the face of six-figures of cost savings the first year alone.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 24 2014, @06:27PM
They're surprised because they're idiots.
Updating machines, updating and/or maintaining the operating system of the machines, meeting regulatory requirements... that all falls under the category of that's what their business IS.
Frankly, that they're using a general purpose operating system from anyone is absurd for their use case. Sure, start with Linux if you like, but fork that baby and create an ATM operating system that does ATMs and only ATMs. That's their business!
But they don't do that, because it's cheaper in the short term to grab something off a shelf, tweak it a bit, slap it on that cheapest hardware they can sling together, and ship it off so the sales guys and management make their Holy Quarterly Numbers. Never realizing that they're killing their own companies in the long term. I swear it's like no one expects there to be a long term anymore...
(Score: 1) by youngatheart on Tuesday March 25 2014, @01:01AM
I think you hit the nail on the head. No one expects there to be a long term anymore.
(Score: 1) by ButchDeLoria on Tuesday March 25 2014, @04:21AM
I'd have thought that was obvious by pop culture's infatuation with natural disasters, apocalyptic events, and zombies.