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Linux Software

SGI Press Release: Linux is Officially Supported 80

Mech.Eng writes "SGI is officially supporting Linux on servers. This is their press release "
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SGI Press Release: Linux is Officially Supported

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  • Microsoft's Maritz cracks on Redhat, tries to play Linux defense. Other neat tidbit: Judge Jackson notices that Linux has to give product away to compete with M$.

    Read about it on the M$ PropagandaPass website [microsoft.com]

  • After all, Sun gets and icon. :)
  • ... I hardly think it would be responsible of a major technology company to write a check with their mouth that their asses can't cash. In other words, if they pay lip service and don't follow through, they lose credibility, which is what the business is all about. Unless of course you are Microsoft...
  • Server support is nice, but I'd like to see Linux support for all their nice (drool) graphics hardware... Ok, I am a sucker for 3D graphics, and while the Riva TNT, Voodoo (2 & banshee), G200 etc. have given PC's decent 3D graphics, you can never have too fast 3D.
  • Sigh.

    Carrerra Alpha Workstations were only used for rendering. The lion's share of the actual content was developed on SGIs, and a small amount on Alpha machines running Lightwave for NT.
  • Repeat after me, "we love SGI." :)
  • ...and so many of you said "MIPS is dead."

    I for one wouldn't mind an 800MHz MIPS in my next SGI! Probably an R12K or R14K.

  • SGI is just trying to avoid criticism from the Linux community.

    Like SGI needs Linux? Get real...

  • Sure. Anything from Ziff-Davis will be in favor of Microsoft/Windows,because those folks don't understand how to configure software or hardware for any other platform/OS
  • So, how far away are the SGI propriatry X drivers for the VPC now? Will GL be included? Assuming that SGI writes closed source drivers for X in Linux, is this a good or a bad thing? (good to have useable new hardware with superior graphics to existing x86 Linux, bad cause it might be closed?)
  • I did read the article. Yes it says servers. That's why the next obvious question is about X.

    I have also read many other SGI comments and stories lately, and the burning question is X. Everyone is asking about X. So, lot's of people care about X. And when SGI announces that they will offically support linux for servers, people want to know "what about X?"

    What's so hard to understand about people wanting X? Linux already runs on the Indy and the VPC, and therefore there is nothing new about being able to have a Linux/SGI server. The news story is about "SGI Offically Supporting Linux" and thier statement is that they will support it on SERVERS... Well, great, afaik, the support we recieve for IRIX is NOT great, and VERY expensive, so, although it's good PR for LINUX and SGI, it's not really that exciting of news when it comes down to the facts. What IS interesting about it is, with "offical" SGI support for linux in "some" ways, is this going to lead to what people REALLY want from SGI/LINUX... which is X.

    What's so hard to understand about asking the _real_ question burning in peoples minds?

  • "and developing a server based on the Intel® IA-32 processor that will support Linux and Windows NT® operating systems."

    So, what do you know about IA-32/Linux/SGI? What do you suspect the "server" design will be based on?

    "As we enter the low-end of the market with 32-bit systems, we will support Windows NT and Linux, again giving our customers what they have been asking for," said Vrolyk.

    I read comp.sys.sgi.hardware and the other comp.sys.sgi.* groups often... Do you? What do YOU see people asking for? SGI/LINUX servers? or SGI/Linux w/ X + GL?

  • I'm so glad that rather large companies are supporting Linux...Linux has finally grown up. *snif*
  • But it could happen if SGI pull their finger out and port Maya to Linux...

  • Apparently they want to make IRIX pure-64bit so they don't want to port it to IA32. Linux lets them deliver a good Unix anyway.

    Now how about Veritas as a binary-only module? If it's as good as it's reputation it should be worth having. Of course, SCT's new journalled ext2 will narrow the gap by removing the need for a conventional fsck.

  • The latest motherboards for Alpha 21264/AMD K7 get some really good benchmarks for Streams [virginia.edu] (see the entry for the Compaq AlphaServer DS20, after the Crays), which measure the system's ability to shift a lot of data fast.

    This is apparently the same motherboard that Microway [microway.com] is selling with its 6-way crossbar between the dual processor/RAM/PCI busses. The question is, with AMD set to beat Intel in absolute performance, and with high-end Alpha motherboards taking the K7, should SGI be basing their IA32 offerings on this bus instead of the P-II bus?

  • This looks like a reaction to the recent/current thread about what SGI are going to do when Merced is late and a disappointment. The Register [theregister.co.uk] picked up on it, and transferred it to the halfway mainstream online press, and they needed to do something to restore confidence.

    Also the Linux bit is a reaction to all their dyed-in-the-wool Unix fans who liked the new machines, but hate NT.

  • Umm, IRIX has been shipping 64-bit for about four years now.

    OK. That is an even better reason not to want to port to a 32-bit target (IA-32) now.

    As for Veritas, SGI is much more excited about its own log-structured file system, XFS, and rightly so, IMHO

    Oops, that's what I meant of course

  • "Clone web servers?"

    C'mon! Doesn't Apache predate all commercial web servers? I mean, at it's roots. The first web servers were *all* free software. The commercial companies cloned the free software!

    God. Next thing you know, Microsoft will have invented the internet...

    Innovative free software: Mosaic, NCSA web server, Gopher, Archie, e-mail (in general),...

    Oooo, I'm spitting mad. Claiming We're just a bunch of cloners....
  • Seems like more suits recognize the fact that:
    Win98/95 == Nintendo enhancement for PC
    WinNT == Nice Try OS
    Linux == REAL OS what means it perfectly to customize, easy to maintain, rock stable and even better: it is Open Source.
  • Yes it's a Tradmark owned by Linus. William De LaCroche Jr. used to own an illegitmate trademark on Linux, this was overturned in 1997 and the trademark rightly given to Linus and the internet community.

  • by Tsk ( 2863 )
    Will they "downgrade" the price of their workstation ? (I mean the Mips powered Ones).

    Will they help de optimisation of the "Free" compiler tools - like egcs and gcc ?

    Will this support help the Mesa to get OpenGL certification ?


    These are the real Linux-related Q ....
  • Why on earth would you want linux on a 256p Origin 2000? Because IRIX scales too well? Seriously, what technical merit would Linux have over IRIX? Linux is a great desktop operating system, and IRIX is a great high-end OS.? Do you think Linux is _always_ the right thing?
  • Funny that now that most of the really hard work is done for them companies are saying "Oh we think Linux is great". I know this sounds like a rant but, in a way it bugs me that most of these companies wouldn't have said Linux and serious in the same sentence 12 months ago. Oh well, I suppose better late then never, I didn't even "discover" Linux until about 19 months or so ago.
  • Or at least used to be; the official line was that it works, but should not be considered production quality like the Unix counterpart. So it wouldn't be a fair test yet.

    --
  • Yes, Linux is all about commercialisation. I don't think I need to say anything else.
  • When IA64 becomes a reality both NT and Linux will be there (of course, Linux will be first :-) regardless of what SGI does and without SGI having to invest much anyway.

    Therein lies the key....

    Are customers going to wait for NT if they need 64bit horsepower without spending a billion dollars on a high-end box?

    Prolly not. The jump to a 64bit architecture will likely be a serious blow to NT in the market-place and give Linux a real serious jump, especially with SGI users...

  • The VP of SGI's VisPC group said SGI and Intel have a very close relationship that would be "difficult" to have with multiple vendors. IMHO they took a crapshoot that Merced/Willamette would be out they now, so they got in bed with Intel. Doh!!!

    Damn shame, too.
  • Notice that they carefully (and repeatedly) mentioned only Linux for IA32. NOT IA64 or, particularly, MIPS. But IRIX for MIPS will be continued and enhanced. They think they can farm Linux on the low-end servers while still charging big bux for IRIX on the 'high-end'. They just don't get it yet -- people want Linux on the 'high-end' servers _too_ -- with OpenGL support for the hardware, etc.
  • Face it, M$, Now you're about to have some serious benchmark problems with NT to contend with.

    Anyone want to form a betting pool on how some popular magazines benchmark's are going to turn out?

  • And geeks wonder why geeks are shunned and ostracized by the populace at large! At least don't say things like that out loud, if you're trying to impress a girl =)
    Unless she's a geek too that thought DiCrapio didn't die soon enough...
    -Twink

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