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Taking a look at Gridcomputing, it's pretty clear to see that Grid Computing is actually... Distributed Computing. There's no new concept here - so why the new name? It doesn't make sense until you read the sound bite: "I believe grid computing will revolutionize the way we compute".

Yes, if you can't invent an idea, rename it, and maybe you'll get some credit. What the hell, it's worked before.

Oh well. More power to them. It looks like a great opportunity for the world to learn that Linux is a powerful tool.

This is not a troll or flamebait. I respect SuSE. I really do. Anyone who can win a landwar in Europe the way they have against RedHat has to be doing something right.

With that said, I must now vent against SuSE's mascot, which to me (and lots of other people, I assume) looks like a green turd with legs and a face. Everyone knows Shakespeare's quote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and most people know the common variation on that quote about excrement smelling just as sweet, and I for one find it quite appropos here.

RedHat's shadowman is somehow mysterious. Tux is adorable. The idea of a chameleon has a lot of promise, both for its symbolism and because it has a lot of untapped cuteness-value that could be unearthed and exploited (and maybe plush stuffed-animals is a step in the right direction). But please, SuSE, give the lizard a makeover.

And lest anyone think it's just a crappy slashdot rendition, here's the actual logo from SuSE's website).
For comparison, an actual green chameleon from Kenya. Real chameleons are adroit climbers and skillful hunters with long strong muscular legs. SuSE's chameleon is perched on two pairs of stubby little legs (grossly out of proportion with the rest of its body) and sadly looks like it's about to fall over and die from asphyxiation like a sheep lying on its back. SuSE's chameleon wouldn't have a chance in hell of surviving in the wild (compared with, say, Tux as portrayed on extremelinux.com), which is not the message that we'd like to send about SuSE's distribution in particular or about Linux in general.

And as for the name, that issue's been beaten to death already. Alas, crappy ideas never die in the minds of marketers.

This looks wonderfull... Send a note of support to info@anl.gov or the lead guy on the IBM side, tfiggatt@us.ibm.com...

These guys are not only doing stuff that is fun to look at, they are willing to let people work on their own projects within their project... Drop them a note...

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The l ink in the above comment is actually a presentation about the cluster. Here's the juicy bits:

- The primary purpose is to be a scalability testbed
- They expect the cluster to eventually grow to 1000+ nodes (they have a timeline that indicates that they should be getting ready to install the next 768 nodes RSN)
- They mention some sample applications
- There's a 16' x 8' Active Mural
- It will be open to open source development groups and 'people who ask nicely'
- They mention some of the unique management issues here and here
- The cluster is organized as "towns"
- The cluster is actually comprised of 3 12 systems in it's current config.
- Here's the system configurations and network topology

The key component to forward compatibility is the Linux software used on Beowulf. With the maturity and robustness of Linux, GNU software and the "standardization" of message passing via PVM and MPI, programmers now have a guarantee that the programs they write will run on future Beowulf clusters---regardless of who makes the processors or the networks. A natural consequence of coupling the Linux system software with vendor hardware is that the system software must be developed and refined only slightly ahead of the application software. The Linux model adopted for Beowulf system software makes all these wonders possible.

Linux has proven to be an essential component in building clusters of PCs (pioneered by Beowulf), and its popularity is increasing in the world of scientific and high-performance computing. With a modular design and free source code that has been ported to several CPUs, the Linux kernel is also ideally suited for computer science research. Several companies have introduced Linux products to support powerful desktops and high-performance computing clusters. Dozens of universities and laboratories are using Linux for scientific computation and research. Companies are beginning to market preconfigured Linux clusters using the latest Intel or DEC Alpha CPU. The marketplace is evolving. The Extreme Linux community wants to help.

My favorite Beowulf related site is eXtreme LinuX. This is a good place to start when you first start thinking about getting into supercomputing on a budget. I like it very much. And the logo is really spiffy too. Beowulf is not only fast, it's FUN.

this eXtreme linuX is way cool

>This article makes a number of very valid
>points. Certainly linux performance on low-end
>hardware is markedly superior to NT, but
>the question is, how many people deploy such
>hardware in production?

You're begging the question. Many companies use hardware that's far more "low-end" than a four-processor system. Many other companies choose not to put all their eggs in one basket, preferring to distribute power among several smaller computers rather than one huge machine. You may want to look at the Extreme Linux project for an example of such a use.

>But for high volume dynamically generated
>content, for example, or commerce, or
>databases, NT is more mature

I hope you're joking. Linux draws from a much deeper well of experience than NT ever did. Can you say "reverse-encryptable password file"?

>and benefits from being developed by
>engineers rather than hackers. DEC, from
>whence Cutler came, are very serious about this.

You are confusing seriousness with excellence. You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be intelligent. This is a common error among the technically unproficient.

>I seem to recall Linus himself stating that
>he believed OS design was well understood by
>the 1970s, and he considers microkernels to be
>"stupid", plan9 to be "stupid" etc etc.

Do you have a specific reason to think he was wrong? Anyway, what's the relevance? Which of {NT, Solaris} is a microkernel?

Your argument doesn't flow well. About all you can argue from your premises is that Linux as it stands does not do well on high-end PC compatibles. Your attempt to claim that Linux is "crippled" or inherently flawed is quite a reach -- you have some filling in to do. Get cracking.