Planning for the unexpected
Doghouse – Strategic Redundancy

Open source software and hardware are the best choice to protect against supply chain disruption.
Supply chain disruption is a fact of life in the business world, and recent events indicate that the problem could be getting worse. Regardless of whether the disruption is caused by armed conflict, economic pressure, natural disaster, or ordinary fluctuations in the business cycle, companies need to know they can get the supplies and support necessary to keep their businesses going.
I have worked for companies that insisted on having two suppliers for every single part they needed to run their business, in case one of the suppliers went out of business or could not meet the supply goals at some particular period of time. This flexibility is one of the reasons why people started to move to Unix systems in the early 1980s instead of staying with arguably better operating systems such as VMS, MVS, MPE, etc. (For those Unix diehards who are insulted that I mention these operating systems as "better than Unix," remember that the Unix of that day was not the robust Unix systems of 1992 and afterwards.) Yet these same companies would buy a crucial part for their business from one supplier of system software: Microsoft, citing that they could get their Microsoft operating system from system integrators such as DEC, or HP, or IBM ….
Knowledge of the Windows operating system is confined to a single company, and much of the work on Windows occurs within a single geographical area (Redmond, Washington). On the other hand, GNU/Linux is developed by people all over the world, and the source code for the system is held on servers in almost every country. This built-in diversity provides natural protection against the problem of supply chain disruption.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.