[TriLUG] Can open source solutions be viable companies?

Fri Jun 28 11:17:34 EDT 2002

Ok that brings to mind my one and only contact with the human genome
project.  I met this lady in a TCL class in San Jose who was working on the
human genome project.  She had
a piece of equipment which had a robotic arm that picked up samples
arranged on a grid and did things to them.  What she did, I didn't
understand.  But, I understood the bit about controlling the machine.  The
machine had a TCL interpeter embedded in its control board so that you
could automate it.  The lady was had a Phd in Genetics and not programming
but she talked about running simulations as
well.  I don't know if she did the programming for the simulation or used
someone else's program.  Maybe the program was written in C and she just
entered the numbers.

She could have used Windows or Linux to create her TCL files for
downloading to the machine.  I would venture to say she would have a easier
time doing the development with TCL.  ie. TCL is cross platform, but the
windows version has some differences which she may not want to work around.
The linux box would have a wealth of better tools which are present from
the very beginning.

Here is a quick  table outining the advantages/disadvantages of both
platforms.

                        Windows                       Linux
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TCL environment         most likely not as similar to her robot   most
likely similar
(ie. paths, new lines)

C compiler in case            Visual C++ (the $ in M$)
Free
she wanted to build
a simulator

Serial Console                Hyperterm (yech!)                   Minicom,
kermit, etc.
(I'm assuming it
used a serial console.
It could have actually
had a network interface.)

Various tools                 VBScript? (yech!)             Perl, awk,
split, bash, etc.
for building reports.

Sharing work with       ????                          Most like use a Unix
OS already.
other researchers

JD

"Vestal, Roy L." <rvestal at rti.org>@trilug.org on 06/28/2002 09:40:41 AM

Please respond to trilug at trilug.org

Sent by:    trilug-admin at trilug.org

To:    "'trilug at trilug.org'" <trilug at trilug.org>
cc:
Subject:    RE: [TriLUG] Can open source solutions be viable companies?

BioInformatics is the study of biological information, such as DNA,
Genomics, and Endocrenology. It's the study of the biological functions of
the human body.

Currently, I'm working on a project that requires Oracle on Linux to
produce
a LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System).  The concern that some
of
the decision makers, not here but in the bioinformatics community, is that
Linux is just a "fad", or a passing try to replace Windows. What's being
asked for is documentation, specifically on RedHat, that shows it is a
viable server and desktop operating system, and that the development of
open
source software doesn't mean that the a company isn't "here today gone
tomorrow". They are looking for documentation that shows Linux, A: can do
the job, and B: Is going to be a good investment for the future.

We all know the power and abilities of using Linux as an environment, but
they want to see that people that aren't "techy" can use it and be
productive as well.

-----Original Message-----
From: John F Davis [mailto:johndavi at us.ibm.com]
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 8:54 AM
To: trilug at trilug.org
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] Can open source solutions be viable companies?

WTH is bioinformatics?

My first response is, sure Linux can do it.  But, really it depends upon
what they want to do?  So, what exactly do they want to do? If they want to
produce an output which is from a windows app and this particular app
doesn't work well in wine, then its a no brainer.

JD

"Vestal, Roy L." <rvestal at rti.org>@trilug.org on 06/28/2002 08:48:25 AM

Please respond to trilug at trilug.org

Sent by:    trilug-admin at trilug.org

To:    "Trilug-Triangle Linux Users Group (E-mail)" <trilug at trilug.org>
cc:
Subject:    [TriLUG] Can open source solutions be viable companies?

One of our project directors, a Linux supporter, asked me to ask the group,
specifically RedHat folks the following question. There is a big debate in
the bioinformatics community, which has been using Linux as a solution
because of cost more than anything. Now that bioinformatics are becoming
more "mainstream", better monies are coming in. Now they are starting to
look elsewhere. If we as a community can show how Linux is viable in this
emerging field, then maybe it will help show that Linux is viable.

Question to me:
"Do you have pointers to info on how open-source solutions can still be
viable companies.  There is a big debate in the bioinformatics community
about this, and I thought you might have some info."

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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