Storm tracking on Linux

[Knapp]

A while back, we where talking about needs to use MS and not Linux.
Someone said storm traking was their reason. I found this today.

>From here:
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8223#post8223

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockmanac
No alternative exists for GRLevel3. Of course, you've probably never
heard of that. It's a piece of software for downloading NWS radar in
basically real-time. (I'm a storm spotter.. It's an essential piece of
software).

The Answer:

I work as a contractor to NWS at the NOAA headquarters in MD and lead
the software team on the AWIPS (Advanced Weather Information
Processing System) project responsible for collecting and distributing
those very same RADAR products from the 160+ NWS weather forecast
offices (WFOs). My team is also responsible for the Satellite
Broadcast Network, which is used to distribute NWS data to anyone who
wants to put a dish up to collect it (like television stations,
universities, etc.). All of the AWIPS hardware, including the
graphical workstations used by NWS forecasters, run Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 4 only. Windows is not used at all in AWIPS. I run openSUSE 10.2
on my desktop at work and have no problem interacting with others who
use Windows. NOAA is committed to open source where it makes sense.
Anyone who claims that Linux isn't "ready for the desktop" is really
clueless.