linux in the U.S military

crAckZ · 02-21-2006, 09:44 PM

i was laying in bed thinking about something. in the march o5 issue of LXF they did a story on US destroyers running windows. at first i cringed at the thought. but then i got to thinking, if they used linux would'nt they have to make the source available?

I personally wouldnt mind seeing the source for a targeting or weapons system. not mentioning a specific war or enemy but if you developed a great weapon system for linux, could gpl force the government to release the source thereby making it available to the enemy?

tangle · 02-21-2006, 10:11 PM

You only have to make the source available if you use GPL code. If they make a program that runs on Linux and does not use any GPL code, they do not have to release the source. That is why Oracle does not have to release thier source.

crAckZ · 02-21-2006, 10:16 PM

i was way off on that. i dont know what made me think of that. i guess i was trying to justify why they would choose all that is evil over linux.

in the article it had a photo of a physical memory dump with a caption "just wait till this happens on your nuclear submarine"

slantoflight · 02-21-2006, 10:17 PM

What are you talking about? What would YOU do with the source to a weapon or targeting system? Terrorize a few small countries or something? Ransom the US governement? Besides it would'nt be open sourced anyway. Linux has no problem with running binary only apps. You don't have to make GPL licensed apps if you don't want to, as long as the source is your own and not from someother GPL app. Currently I don't think there are many GPL-based weapons systems out there, so they probably would be safe.

crAckZ · 02-21-2006, 10:21 PM

same reason i got motorolas linux kernel, to look at it and see how its written. so even if this did happen (which it wont) you wouldnt wanna see it? since i am not nuclear i wouldnt be able to cause any problems. thanks for the heavy sarcasm though.

microsoft/linux · 02-21-2006, 10:28 PM

yes, the government is still under jurisdiction of US law. So it would still have to follow GPL. However, assuming the weapon system would not be part of the linux kernel, it would not necesarilly need to be released. The government could make software that runs on the linux operating system, that wouldn't interact w/ the kernel, it wouldn't need to be released.

EDIT:Wow, you guys answered fast. Basically everything I said, has already been said

crAckZ · 02-21-2006, 10:32 PM

yeah, for some reason i was alittle off on my thinking. would be a hell of a "what if" though.

Dragineez · 02-22-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by microsoft/linux

yes, the government is still under jurisdiction of US law.

Which would include those laws governing national security and classified information, which would easily trump the GPL.

microsoft/linux · 02-22-2006, 10:22 AM

oh, I suppose. I didn't think about that. This is exactly why I won't ever be able to work for the government. I don't think this kind of stuff through.

Well, that, and I'm probably too anti-establishment

But the thing is, if they were going to classify it, that's imcompatible w/ the GPL, so they couldn't license it that way any way. Right?

Dragineez · 02-22-2006, 01:41 PM

By definition, any software developed by the government, or any software developed under government contract, that software and its source code are in the public domain. Even broader than the GPL.

The exception is code classified to protect national security secrets. I'm quite sure a target acquisition, tracking, and fire control program for an Aegis CG would be deemed classified and subject to such constraints.

Padma · 02-22-2006, 01:51 PM

Most of the code I work with (and ALL of the data) is classified. Makes no difference what kind of license I might want to put on it, it will never be seen outside this building.

And at least one of us here is wrong in their thinking about the GPL. The last time I looked, it doesn't require anyone to release code they write unless they distribute it. When "the government" writes code for controlling missiles/ships/tanks/whatever, you can bet it is never released/distributed outside "the government".

crAckZ · 02-22-2006, 04:13 PM

I'll take credit for being wrong. since noone would ever see the software noone would know; doesnt matter what license. thanks for setting me straight.

slantoflight · 02-22-2006, 05:07 PM

Perhaps you should get a job with Padma. You'd probably enjoy that.

microsoft/linux · 02-22-2006, 05:11 PM

what is Padma?

slantoflight · 02-22-2006, 05:22 PM

the person who replied previously

right before crack