Infrastructure
Why do companies fear Linux the way passengers fear flying? (and how to overcome the vertigo)
Is your company afraid of using Linux? We compare the fear of flying with the fear of free software and show you how Oksigenia leads the way to your digital sovereignty.
Published updated 3 min read
Have you ever felt that knot in your stomach before boarding a plane? The racing heart, the feeling of not being in control and a mind full of catastrophic scenarios. It is the classic fear of flying: an irrational phobia that paralyses us even though the statistics shout in our face that it is the safest means of transport in the world.
Curiously, exactly the same thing happens in business when we talk about technology infrastructure. The fear of heights has its digital equivalent: the fear of Linux and open source.
“The feeling of losing control at ten thousand metres is identical to what an executive feels when faced with a black terminal full of white letters. Both are optical illusions.”
The vertigo of the unknown (with the data in hand)
When we travel by plane, the fear comes from not knowing how the aerodynamics work and from entrusting our safety to a machine we do not understand. The figures from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are conclusive: the probability of an air accident is 1 in 11 million. Driving to the airport is infinitely more dangerous than the flight itself.
In technology, companies suffer the same panic. They associate Linux with extreme complexity, with film-style hackers and with systems that “might break” if there is no big Silicon Valley corporation behind them charging for a licence.
But the statistical reality is just as overwhelming as in aviation: Linux is the absolute king of stability. More than 90% of the world's web servers, the New York Stock Exchange and the core infrastructure of the internet run on Linux. Your Android phone works thanks to it. Paradoxically, companies trust their bank accounts to Linux-based systems, yet they are afraid to use it to host their own CRM.
Flying on Mars with open source
If the aeroplane metaphor seems abstract to you, let's turn to a literal, documented case. In April 2021, NASA managed to fly the Ingenuity helicopter in the atmosphere of Mars.
Which operating system did the world's most advanced space agency choose for a mission where you cannot send a technician if something fails 225 million kilometres away? They did not choose Windows. They did not choose macOS. Ingenuity flies on an open-source Linux system. If NASA trusts Linux's stability to make history on another planet, why are you afraid of using it to run your company's ERP?
# Infrastructure pre-flight check at Oksigenia:
$ systemctl status digital_sovereignty
> Engine: Linux [STABLE]
> Containerization: Docker [ACTIVE]
> Vendor_Lock_In: [FAILED - Zero dependencies found]
> Status: Ready for takeoff.
The hidden benefits of leaving commercial “economy class”
Accepting the initial discomfort of leaving the closed ecosystem of the tech giants (Big Tech) and adopting open standards on Linux brings massive rewards for your business:
- Absolute sovereignty (you are the pilot): With free software, you have total control over your technology. You do not depend on companies that impose unilateral price rises on you or change the privacy rules for your data overnight.
- Security through transparency: Contrary to what irrational fear dictates, open source is more secure precisely because thousands of expert eyes can audit it. Tools such as WireGuard (for corporate VPNs) are the gold standard in cybersecurity.
- Resource efficiency (Docker): Linux makes it possible to use containers. This means we can package your applications in an isolated, lightweight way, making your infrastructure infinitely faster and cheaper to maintain than traditional servers.
Oksigenia: your flight crew
It is true that flying a plane requires advanced technical knowledge, and so does managing a Linux server professionally. That is precisely the vertigo holding most SMEs back.
The mistake is believing that you have to learn to fly. That is what Oksigenia is for.
We act as your technical crew. We design, deploy and maintain your business infrastructure based on Linux and Docker. We take the black screen with white letters out of your way and hand you a clean, private and 100% sovereign control panel.
Dare to step out of the corporate comfort zone. Stop paying unjustified tolls to Big Tech for a false sense of security.
Cabin crew, arm doors and cross-check. Have a good flight.
