https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-nasa-astronauts-linux
Very interesting, short article.
I wonder what distro they were using?
Cool. I remember reading somewhere before about the ISS using Linux as it mentions in this article. I've heard that a lot of scientists use Linux in research applications maybe just in supercomputer data crunching. The Wikipedia article on Linux (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux) notes that as of 2017, all supercomputers on the 500 list run some variant of Linux. The same entry notes that Linux is used a lot in space applications including within JPL.
It's pretty neat when you hear another siting of Linux in the wild. :)
Quote from: fox on June 05, 2020, 09:00:34 AM
I wonder what distro they were using?
I wouldn't expect it to be a distro we're familiar with, although I think Debian makes an embedded version of Linux. I'd expect they'd create their own customized version.
It took a bit of searching but I finally found this 2017 article (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321788741_Current_use_of_linux_in_spacecraft_flight_software) that says, the Falcon rockets use "Multiple COTS computers, custom Linux 3.2 with real-time patches" in a chart on page 6. That version must be referring to the kernel. Page 13 refers to the rockets using a "highly customized version of Linux" on page 12 and on page 13 has more information about the kernel and software:
QuoteOnly those functionalities needed for the SpaceX implementation have been carried from the original kernel - only around 10-15 percent of original code. SpaceX has also made their own mission-speciï¬c modiï¬cationsto the kernel, and custom drivers have also been added. The kernel has been carefully evaluated, especially focusing on the scheduler performance
...
SpaceX ï¬,ight software developers use a lot of standard GNU tools such as gcc, gdb,ftrace, netï¬lter, and iptables. SpaceX includes extensive metrics gathering to their software, including but not limited to performance, network utilization, and CPU load.