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Linus @BALUG

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stuff-to-read dept.

Chris DiBona wrote in to send us this summary of Linus' talk over at the BALUG. Lots of pictures and a good summary of the talk. Worth a gander.

5 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Lucky too... by chrisd · · Score: 2
    While I am not looking forward to the growth, at least I know my Operating System can take it :-)

    Chris DiBona
    VA Linux Systems
    --
    Grant Chair, Linux Int.
    VP, SVLUG

    --
    Co-Editor, Open Sources
    Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
  2. Price: $2195 vs. $$$$ by roystgnr · · Score: 2

    That's for a 533Mhz 21264-based computer (yes, computer: everything but monitor) from Microway. You could probably go under $2000 if you looked harder, but in any case we're already talking prices low enough to make the NT Tax noticeable, and low enough to make the NT Maintenance Tax* and Code Maintenance Tax* the major factor in your purchasing decision.

    *NT Maintenance Tax: cost of crashes/downtime, plus the cost of either hiring either an admin dull enough to want NT or an admin pricy enough to accept it anyways

    *Code Maintenance Tax: the money you'll be paying expensive programmers someday to fix the kludges you used to try and use 64-bit addressing on a 32-bit system, when you eventually do upgrade to a 64-bit processor.

  3. Linux. YES! by Accipiter · · Score: 2
    This Picture Rocks.

    A) It's a Ferrari
    B) It's got a Bad Ass license Plate

    ---

    On to the other parts of the article...

    Linus is looking at 8, maybe 16 CPUs, but not 256 or 512 CPUs. After 16 CPUs or so, he prefers to look at clustering because a lot of hardware, especially PC hardware, wasn't designed for such scalability anyway.

    Efficent clusters can make good use of multiple nodes with multiple CPUs. You won't necessarily need a 200 node system with each node having 200 processors (although that would be SWEET). You could just as easily have 200 nodes, each with 16 CPUs. You have to balance necessity with realism.

    For now, he doesn't have a list of what he will allow in 2.4. At this point, performance and USB are the main focus and we'll see afterwards.

    USB support would be good, but I'm still not sold on the principle of USB. As for performance, I'm not sure how much further it can go (although, I DO believe in Linus and the Linux Development team). 2.2.X achieved a TREMENDOUS performance leap over 2.0.3X. If we see another one of those jumps, I'd be thrilled.

    While the penguin was announced as a 2.0 mascott at the beginning, there's no plans for a new mascott for linux 3.0

    Why the fsck do we need a new mascot?!?!?

    Just some thoughts, rants, etc.. :)

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

    --

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
    (If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't. :P)

  4. Re:Why are they so fat?! by Spridle · · Score: 2

    It's almost impossible not to put on weight in the US. I moved here last october. I had weighed 70 Kg for the last 10 years, after eight months here I almost weigh 80 Kg (that's 176 Lbs on old money).

    The causes?

    • Not being able to walk anywhere, not even the shops. You just can't do it, distances are too far, pavements are few and far between, and people look at you as though you're a freak.
    • Humungous portions of food in the restaurants, really ridiculous. And the food isn't too healthy either, lot's and lot's of lovely fat. Try and order a salad just to be healthy - it arrives covered in dressing with enough fat and colesterol in it to sink a ship.
    • It's hot here (I live in Houston) so I need (oh yes, need) to drink lots of beer to stay cool.
    • Skinny people are hunted down and shot like dogs.
    --

    Life sucks but death doesn't put out at all....

  5. Re:Why are they so fat?! by nevets · · Score: 4

    Is this somekind disease only Americans have?

    Yes, it's what technology brings us.

    What do you eat over there people?

    Twinkies.

    PS: do you really need bigger seats in public transport because you don't fit anymore in these "tiny" ones?

    Yes, or actually we need two seats that have no arm between them.

    OK OK, I was just in Europe, and I did notice that there are not many Fat people around. But I work in a large corporation and I watch people take the elevator to keep from going up one flight of stairs. No they don't have any problems, just laziness. But then again, ain't most programmers lazy. That's what usually makes for better code and less SLOC.

    Good exercise is to move you computers around the office/home every 45 minutes :)

    --
    Steven Rostedt
    -- Nevermind