Rifles powered by Linux purchased by US Army

"Linux powered rifle scopes" is more accurate.

It's pretty obvious the author knows spit about firearms. I've watched several of TrackingPoint videos on youtube. It's mostly techno-hype. My favorite is the unit's description as "compact". As for the actual interaction of the system and the gun, the "guided trigger", even that is suspect. At best, it does nothing but restrict the function of the trigger until all electronic conditions are satisfied. How this eliminates "trigger jerk" remains a mystery. Another hilarious statement is the, "The internal computer will then tell the shooter exactly how to hold the gun, and when to press the trigger." Press? Sweet weeping Hey-zus! ;)

Reverse the polarity!

It seems the GPL is becoming a "Licence to kill", RMS didn't encompass that freedom !

@notbob

My understanding (from a previous article) is that the trigger is already being held down -- but the rifle doesn't actually fire until the computer says everything is properly lined-up.

Quoting: Image recognition routines keep the pip stuck to the marked target in the scope's field of view, and at that point, you squeeze the trigger. This doesn't fire the weapon; rather, the reticle goes from blue to red, and while keeping the trigger held down, you position the reticle over the marked target's pip. As soon as they coincide, the rifle fires. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/17000-linux-powered-r...

Again, a whole lotta misinformation aimed (ha!) at ppl who have zero experience aiming/firing a rifle. What? You pull the trigger and the rifle fires when the "crosshairs" jes happen to coincide with the "tag"? That's even more absurd than this abomination being painted as "compact". And yer supposed to use the companies own proprietary ammo? I'm sure someone is buying into this nonsense. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure its not experienced shooters. I'll get around to further exploring the article --and the comments, which are bound to be a hoot!--tomorrow. Thanks for the link.

As a person with experience shooting metallic silhouette --an exercise comprised of shooting targets up to five football fields away-- with both an optical scope and plain ol' iron sights, I'm skeptical in the extreme.