Reply to post: Re: This is why I love the bbc

BBC bypasses Linux kernel to make streaming videos flow

Stuart Castle Silver badge

Re: This is why I love the bbc

"I have written to them on these subjects and have received a polite but firm reply to the effect that "We do not support Linux" Presumably not because it's too difficult but that they see no future in supporting the OS, yet they use the thing themselves."

There is a marked difference between using something internally and supporting it for external users.

Writing the client is not only the easy part, it's also the smallest. They would need to test it (both internally and externally). This would need to be done far more thoroughly than any tools used internally and may divert resources from supporting the iplayer infrastructure.. Then they would have to train up any support personnel and create documentation for publishing online. All for an OS that apparently accounts for 1.74% of users (source:https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0) and at a time when the BBC is under pressure to cut costs.

An example of this in commerce. Pixar are famous not only for creating a lot of very successful movies, but also creating and selling the Renderman software they used to render those movies.. They have also written a lot of other tools, none of which will ever be released. The reason? They do not have the resources required to fully test these tools and support them, and they don't think it's worth their while investing in the resources.

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