Why is Skylla in Linux?

If you’re like many people, you’re baffled by the technology. Making choices between Microsoft Windows products and Linux, for example, seems to require a great deal of technical expertise. And, no matter who you listen to, you’re bound to be told that the wrong choice is very expensive.
 
I’ve often used similes with more familiar technologies to describe the more obscure computer features, and have found that a comparison to the automotive industry often works well. In the case of Linux vs Microsoft, there’s a bit more of a stretch, but overall the comparison works.
 
Imagine that the plethora of vehicles available today didn’t exist, and you had to order any conveyance from one of two vendors. The first vendor had an all purpose vehicle that served the entire spectrum of transportation from Sherman tanks through pickup trucks to compact passenger cars. Everybody purchasing a vehicle from this vendor would get exactly the same basic machine, but use it in different ways. The military would love the off-the-road capability of the tank treads and heavy armor. A contractor would love the high capacity dump truck capability. A farmer would use it as a pickup to move things around the farm, and the motorist would climb into this monstrosity to drive to work every morning. The vehicle was something for everyone, so it could be sold to every consumer wanting transportation.
 
However, building a vehicle like that means severe compromises are needed. Making a tank also be a car means it isn’t as good a tank as it is a car. There are thousands of more things to break than an average car would need. Moreover, since all vehicles are the same, everybody knows how your vehicle is constructed, that parts stolen from yours would work on theirs, and have easy ways of disabling the other guys vehicle. Because it is complex and expensive, design engineers have to continually find better ways to build it, and those continual changes force the company to force continual upgrades of the product at considerable cost and hassle for the end user.
 
The other vendor takes an entirely different approach. There’s no one-size-fits-all philosophy. Instead, a buyer meets with a salesrep who determines how the vehicle will be used, and designs a conveyance that fits that need. Instead of a motorist driving a huge contraption, he can drive a sleek car that’s just the right size for him and for his family. The car is at once simpler, far less expensive, far more reliable, more maneuverable, and an all-around-better deal for the guy who just needs a car.
The car is designed to have a reasonable life span, and what changes are needed are very inexpensive. People who purchase this option have a car that fulfills a limited function very well.
 
 
The Microsoft and Linux world closely parallel these examples. Microsoft Windows revolutionized the computer industry. It really brought computing power to the masses by providing an easy to understand user interface combined with broad capabilities that made the computer capable of many things. It was a word processor, spreadsheet, high resolution video game device and occasionally played audio. Windows made it’s debut in the early 90’s with Windows 3.1, and the first modern version of Windows was Windows 95. Since that time we have had Windows NT, Windows NT professional, Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows XP, Windows XP professional, Windows XP Service Pack 2, and now Vista which itself comes in several different forms. Each operating system had different benefits and different deficiencies. A program designed to work on one operating system would not necessarily run on another. Audio programs were particularly troublesome because in Windows, audio wasn’t given a high priority for the computer processor. The early developers of Windows saw audio as an accompaniment to video games, not for use as super-critical broadcast programming. The results are still with us. Whenever a computer processor gets overloaded, it will often pause the audio – which is not considered all that important – while taking care of updating a video display or performing some other function. Obviously, audio playback must be paramount in a radio broadcast application. The one-size-fits-all approach of Windows creates problems because it is performing many functions not needed in broadcasting, and the resultant size of the program reduces memory headroom and greatly decreases reliability.
 
Enter Linux
 
The Linux world, on the other hand, takes a totally different approach. Linux, unlike Windows is a non-proprietary language that is available for anybody that wants to use it. Unlike Windows there are no complex licensing schemes or fees. You can easily duplicate Linux from computer to computer, and its totally legal and free.
 
But more importantly, Linux is scalable. With Linux, you load a kernel of a program that handles the basics, then load the features you need to make things work. In the case of digital audio units for broadcast, that’s audio-related operations.
 
In addition, Linux is truly multi-tasking. Multiple programs can be running on the same processor at the same time. One program can look for relay closures from a satellite network. Another can look for commands to do unattended records, another can do normal recording and yet another can do playback to air. All these programs can run simultaneously, and exchange data with each other. The result is a very compact, concise code set that does its job well and doesn’t needlessly consume resources. That means high reliability.
 
But Linux has more to offer. The main advantage of the Windows environment is the ability to use high resolution graphics on the user interface. Linux has multiple user interfaces including high resolution graphics, without the system overhead.
 
Linux has many other advantages. Since the operating system is not nearly as prevalent as Windows, Internet based viruses are far less of a problem. Linux was designed with The Internet in mind. That makes secure transfer of data, remote control, and other important functions not only possible but very practical. Linux can tie together multiple locations into one functioning whole, making physical location of the equipment of little importance. That means station groups can use the capability of Linux to create great efficiencies of scale for everything from log generation to production. It also allows us to monitor systems 24/7 and know immediately of pending problems. Linux digital systems, such as Skylla from Smarts Broadcast Systems are paving the way for a whole new generation of computer hardware for radio.