Getting Linux system approved by FDA.

[Blake Barnett]

A little late in doing so, but I'll correct you anyway.  Progeny still
offers Debian support contracts, as well as a couple other companies. 
HP offers Debian as a supported OS, but you may need to buy hardware to
get the contract.

So... it's not necessarily about name brands or service contracts.  It
really comes down to using what is most economically feasible, and this
includes training costs, time-to-market considerations, and various
other not-so-obvious costs.  At this point if someone knows RedHat, then
it's obviously cheaper for them to use it in the short term.  Long term,
however, I believe Debian offers the most assurance. And an organization
like Debian is likely to be around long after all commercial
distributions have bitten the dust, because it doesn't rely on any
bottom lines or market conditions.


On Mon, 2002-08-19 at 15:20, Matt Alexander wrote:
> I recommend RedHat.  My guess is that they'll be around longer than most
> other commercial distros, and they give managers that warm fuzzy
> name-brand recognition.  Plus, you can get a service agreement with RH,
> unlike Debian (correct me if I'm wrong).
> ~M
> 
> 
> On Mon, 19 Aug 2002, Sundar wrote:
> 
> > Thanks Blake. It will be good from management point of view to deal with
> > another company and pay for it's services. This way they will take
> > things seriously, rather than just as one time deployment or just to
> > accommodate me. We pay real big bucks for each tester currently (eg. 300
> > MHz pentium II hardware, nothing fancy is  $9000, only thing is if any
> > part goes bust the company will supply the same model anytime in next 10
> > years) . And when I checked Redhat/SuSSE, even with service agreements,
> > we would almost save 70% - 85%.
> >
> > On getting locked to particular version of the distro, it is inevitable.
> > We have to get it certified even if we add some more memory to any
> > existing testers. In fact, I am administering 200 to 300 testers
> > worldwide running VENIX(really old AT&T version of Unix) with 16MB ram.
> > We cannot upgrade it or do anything else. One good thing is they have
> > been humming with a hitch, not the newer Windows NT systems. Everyday at
> > least 2 blue screens of death(go figure!).
> >
> > So, if this certification goes through I will be locked to the version,
> > license agreements etc... for next 20 years for initial 150 testers at
> > least.
> >
> > Cheers!
> > Sundar
> >
> > Blake Barnett wrote:
> >
> > >All I can say, is be VERY careful (or liberal) with the wording you use
> > >to get the certification.  At a past employer, they were too literal
> > >with their definitions and we were stuck at an old version of the OS
> > >specified, and weren't allowed to upgrade without re-certification!  So
> > >just be careful.
> > >
> > >I'd recommend Debian, but you'll get 20 different answers to which
> > >distro to choose.
> > >
> > >
> > >On Mon, 2002-08-19 at 11:13, Sundar wrote:
> > >
> > >>Hello,
> > >>
> > >>Finally, I managed to convince our management to get a Linux based test
> > >>system to test our products(Pacemakers, De-Fibrillators.....) . Now I
> > >>have to decide on RedHat, SuSE or any other and get it approved by FDA.
> > >>I know, it's going to be a long time(6 months to an year). Documentation
> > >>itself is going to take atleast 3 months.  But, I guess it is better
> > >>late than never.
> > >>
> > >>Now to the question -- Have any of you implemented the systems like
> > >>this(testing medical electronic equipments or electronic equipments in
> > >>general). We will be using LabVIEW(from National Instruments) to develop
> > >>the applications. I need your anecdotal experiences and others, if you
> > >>have come across similar situations.
> > >>
> > >>And what do you think as the good company to go with. I have good
> > >>exposure to RedHat, decent exposure to SuSE  and played around with others.
> > >>
> > >>Any pointers welcome.
> > >>
> > >>Thanks,
> > >>Sundar
> > >>
> > >>________________________________________________
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> > >>
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> > >>
> >
> >
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> >
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> 
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-- 
Blake Barnett (bdb)  <blake.barnett@developonline.com>
Sr. Unix Administrator
DevelopOnline.com                 office: 480-377-6816

Learning is a skill, you get better at it with practice.