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Linux Used To Make "Star Trek, Nemesis"
Mike McCune writes "The "Linux Journal" has a nice article about the switch
from Irix to Linux at Digital Domain and the use of Linux in 'Star Trek, Nemesis.' I guess this means that Linux is finally ready for 'The Enterprise.'"
When companies switch from Irix to Linux, it means one of two things:
* they bought new SGI workstations, which run Linux, OR
* they couldn't afford SGI workstations, so they bought other Intel workstations with Linux.
It's not an amazing breakthrough jump. It's just that SGI barely sells Irix machines anymore.
Here's the deal: a switch from IRIX to Linux doesn't mean a fucking thing. They've switched from one variant of Unix to another. What was gained in the end? A net gain overall for Unix of not a fucking thing. Zero.
If they switched from Windows- or Mac-based machines, then this would be legit. Other than that it's meaningless in the sense of Linux is Taking Over.
That's all fine and great that it makes for a good story, but if the point is to claim that somehow people are realizing the benefits of Unix-derived operating systems, then it means squat.
The reason SGI is probably selling less Irix machines is that Linux is available, cheaper, and does what buyers want.
No. Five years ago, SGI was selling fewer IRIX machines because Windows NT was available, cheaper, and did what buyers wanted. Two years ago, it was because Windows 2000 was available, cheaper, and did what buyers wanted. Last year it was Linux. This year it's Mac OS X. Who knows what it will be next year?
The fact that Linux is displacing IRIX in a lot of cases says much more about SGI than it does about Linux.
I write in my journal