Why just 25 amazing uses we hear you ask? Well this month is the 25th anniversary of Linux – and it wouldn’t make much sense to do a list of 50 on such an occasion.
What better way to celebrate this game-changing Open Source operating system, than list some interesting and brilliant uses for Linux? It’s been hard work trying to whittle the list down to just 25 with so much to choose from.
We’re sure you can think of many more, but here is our pick of some amazing, and some lesser known, uses for Linux over the last 25 years.
1. The Lotus Formula 1 team – a Linux run computer which collects and collates data from thousands of sensors on their racing cars provides valuable data to the teams.
2. Android on smartphones – an obvious one and a major use for Linux around the world. Thanks to of the dominance of Android on smartphones, Linux has the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems.
3. Fun things to do at home! It’s not just for supercomputers, Linux can be used for almost anything. We thought it was worth mentioning some of the smaller ways you can use Linux on a home level with amazing results. Take a look at this article about creating tiny home automation gadgets.
4. Smartwatches – Tizen is a project within the Linux Foundation and is governed by a Technical Steering Group (TSG) composed of Samsung and Intel among others. Samsung released the Samsung Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, Samsung Gear S and the Samsung Gear S2 running Tizen
5. US Navy sonar systems in submarines – Not just amazing uses around the world – but amazing uses underwater!
6. Titanic the movie – stay with us, please. A visually impressive use of Linux was the computers used for the visual effects on the Titanic movie. In fact, it’s not just Titanic, many Hollywood movies have used Linux including Avatar. Closer to home in the UK Aardman Animation used Linux for Wallace and Gromit.
7. Japan’s bullet trains. Running at a speed of 240-320 km/h, all train tracking, maintenance, scheduling and controlling is Linux based.
8. US Department of Defence computing system – According to Linux.com, the United States Department of Defence is the “single biggest install base for Red Hat Linux” in the world.
9. Google – we couldn’t resist mentioning that Google uses its own version of Linux to run its search engine systems.
10. The New York and London stock exchange supercomputers use Linux (along with many other stock exchanges around the world).
11. CERN – what better use than for amazing scientific research? CERN uses Scientific Linux on a massive scale for mission-critical applications.
12. Twitter – we just love it – and yep, it’s Linux again, can you believe it? (oh – and that one called Facebook too).
13. Post! Yes, many postal services around the world use Linux to power their computers and systems ensuring you get your mail delivered on time.
14. Virgin’s in-flight entertainment system – what could be more important than being able to watch a good film on long-haul flight?
15. Online food shopping – Ocado the online supermarket uses Linux in its datacentres.
16. Governments – loads of them! Many governments around the world use Linux for their computers including Iceland, the Netherlands, Russia and France.
17. Games – yes Linux is definitely fun. Sony’s PlayStation is a good example.
18. Super smart fridges for your home, huh? Because surely we all need a fridge that reminds you of birthdays and gives you recipes. The Electrolux Infinity i-kitchen fridge runs on Linux. (Or how about a toaster with an embedded computer – yes really)
19. NASA. There are even uses for Linux out in space. NASA moved the International Space Station computers onto Linux.
20. Stranger than the fridge and the toast – Linux powered robotic cow milking machines for dairy farms.
21. Wikipedia is a staunch supporter and user of Linux for its online encyclopaedia.
22. PVRs – Personal Video Recorders use Linux. Including one of the UK’s largest providers Sky.
23. Even the police are using Linux! – Take a look at this article about how Linux saved the French Police a lot of money.
24. Weather forecasting. The Met Office relies on a network of Linux computers to handle large quantities of data for the forecasts.
25. And lastly: Websites, things we view every single day and now couldn’t live without. The majority of websites run on a LAMP stack – Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.
Let us know any of your favourite uses for Linux – tweet us @futurecert