Banrisul is the largest bank in the South of Brazil and operates primarily in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Banrisul is now carrying out a plan to replace the MS-DOS operating systems in their automatic teller machines with Linux. At this time, Banrisul has installed Linux in 340 of their ATMs with plans to complete the task of installing the open source operating system in their entire network of 2000 machines by this time next year (Dec. 2001)

We talked to Sr. Carlos Eduardo Wagner, Consultant Analyst for Automated Banking and Sr. Carlos Bueno, Systems Analyst, who are heading up this innovative project at Banrisul.

Linux Online:: Was cost the primary reason involved in deciding to deploy Linux in your ATMs?

Wagner/Bueno: Technically, no. We were using MS-DOS, an operating system which could no longer fulfill our needs. An option was MS-Windows, but this would have forced us to re-write a good part of our existing programs - not to mention the cost of licenses for MS-Windows in each of the two thousand ATMs. MS-Windows requires more frequent CPU upgrades than Linux does. This is due to Linux's greater efficiency compared with other 32 bit operating systems.

Linux Online:: You chose Conectiva Linux (A Brazilian distribution) for the job. Are you working closely with Conectiva in carrying out this project?

Wagner/Bueno: Yes, very closely. Conectiva personnel are working with our team in a support role throughout the development of the project

Linux Online:: Have there been significant changes to the software that run in the ATMs in order to use it under Linux?

Wagner/Bueno: No, they're exactly the same - just with some adaptations for hardware access (differences between MS-DOS and Linux)

Linux Online:: Have you had to re-train your IT staff in order to now work with Linux and write and support applications for Linux?

Wagner/Bueno: No. The applications were written in C, (ANSI standard) and maintained by the same team so there wasn't any need for that.

Linux Online:: Have you had any problems getting the data storage part of your systems (databases) to work with the Linux interfaces?

Wagner/Bueno: In our case the ATMs don't write directly to the databases- this is done by our servers.

Linux Online:: You have now 340 machines running with Linux. Though it's still soon (they only came on line this month)- have you noticed an increase in efficiency and a decrease in down-time while using Linux?

Wagner/Bueno: Although we haven't calculated the percentage, we can see a reduction in the amount of down-time in our machines running Linux.

Linux Online:: Have you let your customers know about the change? Has there been any reaction - either positive or negative?

Wagner/Bueno: Our clients haven't been notified yet but they will be soon.

Linux Online:: What's been the reaction of Banrisul's investors, particularly the Rio Grande do Sul State Government, the major shareholder?

Wagner/Bueno: They gave total support. Besides the reduction in costs for Banrisul, the government of the State instructed us that any computer programs that could be substituted for open source software (Linux, Star Office, etc.) should be done immediately. This is a policy as well for Banrisul, government agencies, school districts and others. They also sponsored the First International Forum on Open Source Software (http://www.softwarelivre.rs.gov.br/).

Linux Online:: How about the employees? What has been their reaction? Are there plans to get Linux on the desktops of the workstations at Banrisul for day to day work?

Wagner/Bueno: Many of our developers already use Linux in their PCs at home and they are supportive of this decision. Linux is now in use as a web server in our intranets in 363 branches. Other Open Source alternatives will also be used. We're installing Star Office in more than 5000 workstations in our main offices and branches as an alternative to MS Office.

Linux Online:: One of the major issues involving a switch to Linux is technical support. Were there concerns about a lack (or at least a perception of a lack) of technical support? What advice would you give to other companies thinking of switching to Linux in a key area of their operations as you have done?

Wagner/Bueno: This worried us at the beginning, so we would advise hiring a company specialized in Linux to give support and help in development and supply Linux "know-how" to your internal team - mainly, to be in compliance with standards of the market in the development of your systems, as we had done with C-ANSI, POSIX interface, TCP-IP protocol, ISO norms, etc...

Linux Online:: In the end, what do you hope your depositors will get out of this?

Wagner/Bueno: Our goal is to provide new ATMs services as fast as possible, a greater availability of machines (without problems with the OS) and the possibility of reducing banking fees (with the reduction of costs).

Banrisul's website is http://www.banrisul.com.br