Linux is Everywhere. From Space Stations to Microwave Ovens, Linux powers everything.

You might have heard that a lot and have always wondered s that !ust a phrase or is it actually true " # $e assured, it is true. %orld&s 'iggest companies use Linux in one way or another 'ut you are not going to 'elieve unless ta(e names. %ell, get ready )or a roller coaster ride across the glo'e where show you where and how Linux is used

*overnment
Most o) the *overnments use Linux, which is pretty o'vious )or two ma!or reasons. t saves money and provides the +exi'ility no other OS can . $elow is a comprehensive list o) *overnments around the glo'al using Linux , .merica / Starting 0uly 1223, 4he %hite 5ouse started migrating the computers to the Linux,'ased 6ed 5at Linux and .pache 5447 Server and the migration was completed in Fe'ruary 1228. n Octo'er 1228, 9rupal was chosen as the primary :ontent management system )or %hite 5ouse Servers. 4he ;nited States 9epartment o) 9e)ense uses Linux / #the ;.S. .rmy is #the single largest install 'ase )or 6ed hat Linux and the ;S <avy nuclear su'marine +eets run on Linux. n 122=, the ;S Federal .viation .dministration announced that it had completed a migration to 6ed 5at Enterprise Linux in one,third o) the scheduled time and saved 3> million dollars. 4he ;S <ational <uclear Security .dministration operates the world&s tenth )astest supercomputer, the $M 6oadrunner. which used 6ed 5at Enterprise Linux along with Fedora as its operating system. 4he city government o) Largo, Florida, ;S. uses Linux and has won international recognition )or their implementation, indicating that it provides extensive savings over more traditional alternatives in city,wide applications. n 0une 1231 the ;S <avy signed a ;S?1@,AAB,AAB contract with 6aytheon to install Linux ground control so)tware )or its +eet o) vertical ta(e,oC and landing D E4OL F <orthup,*rumman MGA$ Fire Scout 9rones. 4he contract involves <aval .ir Station 7atuxent 6iver, Maryland which has already spent ?>,3@>,2@> in preparation )or the Linux Systems. *ermany / n 122B the :ity *overnment o) Munich decided to migrate their 3H,222 des(tops to LiMux, a customised version o) 9e'ian. Even though more than A2I o) wor(stations were already using Free So)tware li(e Open OJce, Fire)ox and 4hunder'ird. n <ovem'er 122A, Kve years later the migration rate o) 12I was achieved 'ecause o) )ocusing on smaller deployments and winning over staC to the value o) program. $y the end o) 1233, more than 8222 des(tops were running Linux and the government o) Munich later reported that the migration to Linux was highly success)ul and has already saved the city over L33 million D ;S9 ?3H million F. 4he Federal Employment oJce o) germany has migrated 3B,222 pu'lic wor(stations )rom %indows <4 to OpenSuse.

 France / the French parliament has switched to using ;'untu on 9es(top 7:s. France&s Ministry o) .griculture uses Mandriva Linux. France&s national 7olice Force, the <ational *endarmerie, started moving their 82,222 des(tops )rom %indows M7 to ;'untu in 122@ over the concerns over additional training costs o) moving to %indows Eista, and )ollowing the success o) OpenOJce roll,outs. 4he migration should 'e completed in 123>. 4he )orce have saved over L>2 million on so)tware licensing 'etween 122H and 122A. South .)rica / 4he South .)rican Social Security .gency D S.SS. F deployed Multi,Station Linux 9es(tops to address 'udget and in)rastructure constraints in >2 rural sites. 4ur(ey / n 122B, the 4ur(ish *overnment decided to create its own Linux 9istri'ution , 7ardus, developed 'y ;EN.E D <ational 6esearch nstitute o) Electronics and :ryptology F. 4he First version, 7ardus 3.2, was oJcially announced in 9ecem'er 122>. 7hilippines / n 1232, 4he 7hilippines started using national Eoting System powered 'y ;'untu. Malaysia / n 0uly 1232, Malaysia had switched @2B o) the state&s @1H agencies to Free So)tware with a Linux,'ased operating system used. 4he :hie) Secretary cited,*eneral acceptance o) its promise o) 'etter Ouality. higher relia'ility, more +exi'ility and lower cost. :hina / State owned ndustrial and :ommercial 'an( o) :hina D :$: F has installed Linux in all o) its 12,222 retail 'ranches on the 'asis o) its we' server and a new terminal plat)orm. 4he 7eople&s 6epu'lic o) :hina exclusively uses Linux as the operating system )or its Loongson processor )amily, with the aim o) technology independence. :u'a / Students )rom the :u'an ;niversity o) n)ormation Science launched its own distri'ution o) Linux called <ova to promote the replacement o) Microso)t %indows on civilian computers and government computers, a pro!ect that is now supported 'y the :u'an *overnment and have success)ully migrated more than A222 computers to this new operating system. 6ussia / n late 1232 Eladimir 7utin signed a plan to move the 6ussian Federation government towards Free So)tware including Linux in the second Ouarter o) 1231. <etherland / 4he 9utch 7olice nternet 6esearch and nvestigation <etwor( D i6< F has only used Free and open source so)tware 'ased on open standards, pu'licly developed with the source code availa'le on the internet )or audit, since 122B. the use 1122 u'untu wor(stations. Spain / 4he regional .ndalusian .utonomous *overnment o) .ndalusia in Spain developed its own Linux distri'ution, called *uadalinex in 122H. 7a(istan / 4he *overnment o) 7a(istan esta'lished a 4echnology 6esource Mo'iliPation ;nit in 1221 to ena'le groups o) pro)essionals to exchange

views and coordinate activities in their sectors and to educate users a'out )ree so)tware alternatives. Linux is an option )or poor countries which have little revenue )or pu'lic investment. 7a(istan is using open source so)tware in pu'lic schools and colleges, and hopes to run all government services on Linux. ndia / 4he government o) Nerala, ndia, announced its oJcial support )or Free So)tware in its State 4 7olicy o) 1223. which was )ounded a)ter the Krst ever )ree so)tware con)erence in ndia, #Freedom FirstQ. held in 0uly 1223 in 4rivandrum, the capital o) Nerala, where 6ichard Stallman inaugurated the Free So)tware Foundation O) ndia. since then, Nerala&s 4 7olicy has 'een signiKcantly in+uenced 'y FOSS, with several ma!or initiatives such as 4RSchool 7ro!ect, possi'ly the latest single,purpose deployment o) Linux in the world, and leading to the )ormation o) the nternational :entre )or Free and open Source So)tware D :FOSS F in 1228.

Education
Education is the most power)ul weapon which you can use to change the world / <elson Mandela. Free So)tware should 'e part o) the education system and some countries have done a remar(a'le !o' o) integrating Free So)tware in their education system. 4he :hildren&s Machine / 4he OL7: MO,3 D previously called the M 4 ?322 laptop and 4he :hildren&s Machine F, is an inexpensive laptop running Linux, which will 'e distri'uted to millions o) children as part o) the One Laptop 7er :hild pro!ect, especially in developing countries. :hina / 4he :hinese government is 'uying 3.> million Linux Loongson 7:s as part o) its plans to support its domestic industry. n addition the provision o) 0iangsu will install as many as 3>2,222 Linux 7:s, using Loongson processors, in rural schools starting in 1228. taly / Schools in $olPano, taly, with a student population o) 3=,222, switched to a custom distri'ution o) Linux D F;SS Soledad *<;SLinux F in septem'er 122>.

6ussia / 6ussia announced in Octo'er 122@ that all its schools computers will run on Linux. 4his is to avoid cost o) Licensing currently unlicensed so)tware. SwitPerland / 8222 computers were converted to Linux and OpenOJce in school district *eneva, SwitPerland. *eorgia / n 122H, *eorgia 'egan running all its computers and L4S7 thin clients on Linux, mainly using Nu'untu, u'untu and stripped Fedora,'ased distro. 7hilippines / 4he 7hilippines has deployed 3B,222 des(tops running on Fedora, the Krst 32,222 were delivered in 122@ 'y .dvances Solutions nc. .nother 32,222 des(tops o) Edu'untu and Nu'untu are planned. ndia / *overnment oJcials o) Nerala, ndia announced they will use only

)ree so)tware running on Linux 7lat)orm, )or computer education, starting with the 1,=>2 government and government,aided high schools. 4he ndian State o) 4amilnadu also plans to distri'ute 322,22 Linux laptops to its students. 4he ndian government&s ta'let computer initiative )or students use Linux as the operating system as part o) its drive to produce a ta'let 7: )or under 3,>22 rupees D ;S?B> F. *ermany / n 1231 the Nei'niP Supercomputing :entre o) the $avarian .cademy o) Sciences and 5umanities unveiled the SuperM;:, the world&s )ourth most power)ul supercomputer. 4he computer is xA=,'ased and )eatures 3>>,222 processors cores with a maximum speed o) B peta+ops o) processing power and B1H tera'ytes o) 6.M. ts operating system is S;SE Linux Enterprise Server. *ermany also announced that >,=2,222 students in BB universities will migrate to Linux. EenePuela / n 1228, EenePuela&s Ministry o) Education 'egins a pro!ect called :anaima,educativo, to provide all students in pu'lic schools with #:anamita laptop computers with the :anaima 9e'ian,'ased Linux distri'ution pre,installed, as well as with open source educational content.

$usinesses and non 7roKts

Linux is used extensively on servers in 'usinesses, and has 'een )or a long time. Linux is also used in some corporate environments as the des(top plat)orm )or their employees, with commercially availa'le solutions including 6ed 5at Enterprise Linux, S;SE Linux Enterprise 9es(top, and ;'untu. .maPon / .maPon.com, the ;S 'ased mail,order retailer, uses Linux #in nearly every corner o) its 'usiness. *oogle / *oogle uses a version o) ;'untu internally nic(named *oo'untu. %i(ipedia / %i(ipedia moved to running its server on u'untu in late 122A, a)ter having previously used a com'ination o) 6ed 5at Enterprise and Fedora. 9ream%or(s / 9ream%or(s .nimation adopted the use o) Linux since 1223, and uses more than 3,222 Linux 9es(tops and more than B,222 Linux servers. $M / $M does extensive development wor( )or Linux and also uses it on des(tops and servers internally. the company also created a 4E advertising campaign - $M supports Linux 322I.

<YSE / 4he <ew Yor( Stoc( System uses Linux to run its trading applications. <ovell / <ovell initiated a migration )rom %indows to Linux 'ac( in 122H. O) its >>22 employees, >2I were success)ully migrated as o) .pril 122=. 4he Migration rate rose to A2I in novem'er.

 LSE / 4he London Stoc( Exchange uses the Linux 'ased Millenium 4 Millenium Exchange so)tware )or its trading plat)orm and predicts that moving )rom windows to Linux will give it an annual cost savings o) at least T32 million D?3H.@ millionF )rom 1233,31. $anco do $rasil / $anco do $rasil o) $raPil, the 'iggest 'an( in the country, has moved nearly all des(tops to Linux, except some corporate ones and a )ew that are needed to operate some speciKc hardware. 4hey 'egan migration o) their services to Linux in 1221. $ranch servers and .4Ms all run Linux and the distri'ution o) choice is Open Suse. 9u(e!ets / 9u(e0ets LL: D;S.F and 9u(e 0ets Ltd. D:anadaF, air charter 'ro(erage companies, switched )rom %indows to ;'untu Linux in 1231 upon converting their operations management suite to the we','ased .irManager so)tware pac(age they helped design. Mind'ridge / Mind'ridge, a so)tware company, announced in Septem'er 122@ that it had migrated a large num'er o) %indows servers onto a smaller num'er o) Linux servers and a )ew $S9 servers. t claims to have saved #'unches o) money. %oti) / %oti), the .ustralian hotel 'oo(ing we'site, migrated )rom %indows to Linux servers to (eep up with the growth o) its 'usiness. Eirgin / Eirgin .merica, the low,cost ;.S airline, uses Linux to power its in,+ight entertainment system, 6E9. Erine $all / Ernie $all, (nown )or its )amous Super Slin(y guitar strings, has used Linux as its des(top operating system since 1222. :ME / 4he :hicago Mercantile Exchange employs an all,Linux computing in)rastructure and has used it to process over a Ouadrillion dollars worth o) Knancial transactions. Electrolux Frigidaire / Electrolux Frigidaire nKnity i,(itchen is a #smart appliance re)rigerator that uses a Linux operating system, running on an em'edded H22 M5P Freescale i.MM1> processor with 31A M$ o) 6.M and a HA2UA22 touch panel. NLM / NLM, the 6oyal .viation :ompany o) the <etherlands, uses Linux on the OSS,'ased version o) its NLM %e'Farm. <av :anada / <av :anada&s new nternet Flight 7lanning System )or roll,out in 1233, is written in 7ython and runs on 6ed 5at Linux. Nim :ascone / .merican electronic music composer Nim :ascone migrated )rom .pple Mac to ;'untu )or his music studio, per)ormance use and administration in 1228. :hi,M / 4he :hi,M pan,European eOuity exchange runs its Mar(et7riPm trading plat)orm so)tware on Linux. 7eugeot / 7eugeot, the European car ma(er, announced plans to deploy up to 12,222 copies o) <ovell&s Linux des(top, S;SE Linux Enterprise 9es(top, and 1,>22 copies o) S;SE Linux Enterprise Server, in 122@.

 ;nited $an( O) :ali)ornia / ;nion $an( o) :ali)ornia announced in 0anuary 122@ that it would standardiPe its 4 in)rastructure on 6ed 5at Enterprise Linux in order to lower costs. Laughing $oy / Laughing $oy 6ecords under the direction o) owner *eoC $easley switched )rom doing audio recording on %indows to Linux in 122H as a result o) %indows spyware pro'lems.

ScientiKc nstitutions
<.S. / <.S. has migrated the nternational Space Station )rom %indows Mp to 9e'ian =. ;niversity o) 7ortsmouth / 4he ;niversity o) 7ortsmouth in the ;nited Ningdom has deployed a #cost eCective high per)ormance computer that will 'e used to analyse data )rom telescopes around the world, run simulations and test the current theories a'out the universe. ts operating system is ScientiKc Linux. 9r 9avid $acon o) the ;niversity o) 7ortsmouth said- #Our nstitute o) :osmology is in a great position to use this high per)ormance computer to ma(e real 'rea(throughs in understanding the universe, 'oth 'y analysing the very latest astronomical o'servations, and 'y calculating the conseOuences o) mind,'oggling new theoriesV$y selecting 9ell&s industry,standard hardware and open source so)tware we&re a'le to )ree up 'udget that would have normally 'een spent on costly licences and reinvest it. 4ianhe / 4ianhe, , the worlds )astest super computer as o) Octo'er 1232, located at the <ational :entre )or Supercomputing in 4ian!in, :hina runs Linux. ;niversity o) 4oronto / :anada&s largest super computer, the $M i9ata7lex cluster computer at the ;niversity o) 4oronto uses Linux as its operating system. :E6< / $oth :E6< and Fermila' use ScientiKc Linux in all their wor(W this includes running the Large 5adron :ollider or the 9ar( Energy :ameraor the 12,222 internal servers o) :E6<. nternet .rchive / 4he nternet .rchive uses hundreds o) xA= servers to catalogue the nternet, all o) them running Linux.

So these are the )ew places we (now o) where Linux is used and this is not even a )raction o) what the real num'ers are. 7lease )eel )ree to comment and i) have missed any Linux using country or company, mention it in the commetns and &ll 'e Ouic( to add it to the list.