The quest to make Linux bulletproof
This is the second half of a feature about work undertaken to harden and improve Linux, beginning with part 1 here.
Commercial Unix was expensive so it was carefully tended – and indeed tendered. Linux is free so it has to fend for itself.
Linux itself was inspired by the tried and tested designs of the proprietary Unixes that preceded it – or predeceased it – which it drove into extinction. Some of their tech continues to make its way into Linux, and some is being reinvented, usually to get round IP issues. The goals are to make Linux more resilient: fault-tolerant, self-healing, and in general to lower the cost of its maintenance.