Alpha's Going Going Gone

WildCode writes "Get your Alphas now cause HP is releasing the last of the Alphas (the final one expected to be released in 2004), and there will be no more." I was already under the mistaken impression that Alpha was dead, so this story is rather bittersweet for me. Still, as far as architectures go, Alpha will probably be among my favorites. It was once vastly ahead of its time, if not severely cost-prohibitive.

Comments

Re:GPL Problems

[Anonymous Coward]

Please, DO NOT SPREAD FUD!
IANAL( and guess you should be getting more knowledgeable lawyers soon ), but:

- Modifications to Linux's (the kernel) source code are to be openly available if you are to distribute it. For your own use, you already have it :)

- Code compiled with GCC is as free or as propietary as you want.

- Code linked against libraries covered by LGPL (GNU's Lesser Public License) can be closed source. You only need to make it open if you link against GPL-only libs.

- Having software covered by the GPL (except for the Kernel work, none of your code needs to be put under the GPL) does not spoil your chances of making money from it, it just makes you rethink a bit your bussiness model ( read: get paid for services and support not for the program itself )

Hmm... "Shared Source" fair?? Does M$ Corp have you in their payroll? Go away!

Was alpha really nice? How?

[axxackall]

What was the best about Alpha in its time comparing to SPARC, RS6K, HPPA and SGI of the same price? Had it the fastest speed between CPU and RAM? Had it the fastest system bus? Had the fastest float operations? Integer ones? How about TPC? Please advise. If it is dying then we should remember good technological lessons about it, not only bad management decisions.

Re:Was alpha really nice? How?

[Viol8]

Try this - back in 1994 ie in the days when PCs could just about do fast 2D graphcis in VGA without passing out the firm I worked for rented an 64 bit alpha box.
That was the 1st machine I'd EVER seen full screen mpeg run on, and by full screen I'm talking full colour 2048 x 1152 , not shitty 16 colour VGA. *THAT* was how good alpha was.

Re:GPL Problems

[kfg]

Along those lines it's interesting to note that the Mandrake 9.2 PowerPack and ProSuite come with the Intel compiler.

KFG

I love my Alpha

[idnopheq]

I love my Alpha!

I acquired it when a previous employer did a massive house cleaning. Anything not obviously non-Intel was givin a DOS floppy to boot off of. If it failed, it was dumpster fodder.

Rescued from the trash, my Alpha has been "beauty, eh" for me for 3.5+ years. Initially I ran RedHat on it (which was ok), then upgraded to FreeBSD.

My only reboots/downtime has been due to power outrages, hardware expansion, and kernel upgrades.

I've added an ATA-100 controller, slapped in a SoundBlaster, and have USB and FireWire as well.

The box is a tank. Intel will be hard pressed to match it.

Cheers!

Good bye to more good stuff

[beldraen]

Having worked on Alphas (and VAXs for that matter) in my previous job for six years, I have to say good-bye to an old friend. It was, for me, an incredibly powerful platform that did so many data oriented tasks so easily. The multitasking performance was amazing. We, for the longest time, ran on a VAX that was the equivalent to about a 486-120 MHz machine that could handle thirty developers. At the same time, it could handle thirty clients running reports. In general, we didn't notice each other. The Alphas put that system to shame. I often had to remember that I was working with multi-gigbyte files and processing them in seconds, not hours like on a PC. But, I suspose we'll have to use the "future" of PC hardware until it eventually catches up to the past.. =)