1 Sun decided to get serious about Solaris for x86 and bought a bunch of device drivers from SCO. This was the fastest and cheapest way to get them. It was also not announced at the time. There was no reason to do a press release since any Solaris release form Sun was going to be months away. 2 Later that quarter, SCO decided to make their "Linux infringes" claims. 3 After that quarter, SCO filed their paperwork with the SEC and listed Sun as one of their big deals.
Ever since then people have been wrongly assuming that SCO started their "Linux infringes" before Sun gave them any money. Simply not true.
Finally you obviously have no idea what it would cost in money and time to get those "some USB drivers". Sun bought them because it made good business sense to do so.
The big thing you're missing is that the Opteron spends a lot of time waiting for data to come back from memory. The higher level post that claims "As we already know that "x threads per core" makes almost no difference" is only correct for Intel's hyperthreading. Not for Sun's Niagara design. The UltraSPARC T1 uses the 4 threads per core to hide the memory latency that cause instruction pipelines to sit idle and wait on other CPU designs. That makes a bit of a differnce in total throughput. Check out the memory bandwith. Maybe there's a reason for it.
1) Several folks say the previous Sun suit was to get Java off Windows. I beleive it was to force MS to follow the contract and keep the MS version 100% compatible with the established standards. When MS LOST that suit, they decided to pull all support. If Sun didn't want Java on windows they wouldn't have licensed it to them in the first place. 2) Did anyone consider that maybe the MS Java VM being faster than the Sun Java VM had something to do with MS not makeing their full APIs available for other companies to use? Just a thought.
Mainframe prices have dropped a LOT in the last few years. Amdhal has posted prices for some of the low end models at: "http://eshopamdahl.com:80/eshop/millennium/config s.asp". You can pick up a 1 CPU 94 MIPS machine for $240,000. Keep in mind that Mainframe MIPS are not directly comparable to other architectures. The largest model posted is a 5 CPU rated at 371 MIPS. Amdahl is shipping a 16 CPU model rated over 2000 MIPS.
I admit it. I help build Mainframes. I have a few things to add to this discussion: 1) These are my comments alone and DO NOT represent the opinions or policies of Amdahl Corporation. (sorry but I like my job and I've been warned before) 2) Mainframes are dead. Nobody makes Mainframes anymore. They have been replaced by "Global Servers". Honest. 3) The most expensive part of any "Global Server" installation is the Software. The license for operating systems and applications can easily be in the tens of thousands of dollars per month. This is one big area where Linux may come in. The price of hardware has come down so much that I'm told most companies view S/W costs second only to total system capabilities. 4) Most of the worlds data may still be on big iron, but most of the applications developers work on small machines. If you think it's sometimes hard to find that neat little app. for Linux, try finding it for OS/390, VM, or UTS. This is another area where Linux would help. 5) FYI. You can by low end Amdahl "Global Servers" on the web. Check them out at "http://eshopamdahl.com:80/eshop/millennium/config s.asp". Keep in mind that a Mainframe MIP is a little bigger than a PC MIP. Also, these are the low end.
I also give a copy to all my friends who are new parents. Although I am disapointed that the last time I bought a copy the P.C. enforcers had managed to ge a disclaimer put on the front cover. I beleive it's a great book for children and Adults. On another topic; how many folks knew Shel Silverstein wrote the Jonny Cash clasic "My Name is Sue". I just found that out last year. What a guy.
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First the timeline was this:
1 Sun decided to get serious about Solaris for x86 and bought a bunch of device drivers from SCO. This was the fastest and cheapest way to get them. It was also not announced at the time. There was no reason to do a press release since any Solaris release form Sun was going to be months away.
2 Later that quarter, SCO decided to make their "Linux infringes" claims.
3 After that quarter, SCO filed their paperwork with the SEC and listed Sun as one of their big deals.
Ever since then people have been wrongly assuming that SCO started their "Linux infringes" before Sun gave them any money. Simply not true.
Finally you obviously have no idea what it would cost in money and time to get those "some USB drivers". Sun bought them because it made good business sense to do so.
The big thing you're missing is that the Opteron spends a lot of time waiting for data to come back from memory. The higher level post that claims "As we already know that "x threads per core" makes almost no difference" is only correct for Intel's hyperthreading. Not for Sun's Niagara design. The UltraSPARC T1 uses the 4 threads per core to hide the memory latency that cause instruction pipelines to sit idle and wait on other CPU designs. That makes a bit of a differnce in total throughput. Check out the memory bandwith. Maybe there's a reason for it.
1) Several folks say the previous Sun suit was to get Java off Windows. I beleive it was to force MS to follow the contract and keep the MS version 100% compatible with the established standards. When MS LOST that suit, they decided to pull all support. If Sun didn't want Java on windows they wouldn't have licensed it to them in the first place.
2) Did anyone consider that maybe the MS Java VM being faster than the Sun Java VM had something to do with MS not makeing their full APIs available for other companies to use? Just a thought.
Mainframe prices have dropped a LOT in the last few years. Amdhal has posted prices for some of the low end models at: "http://eshopamdahl.com:80/eshop/millennium/config s.asp". You can pick up a 1 CPU 94 MIPS machine for $240,000. Keep in mind that Mainframe MIPS are not directly comparable to other architectures. The largest model posted is a 5 CPU rated at 371 MIPS. Amdahl is shipping a 16 CPU model rated over 2000 MIPS.
I admit it. I help build Mainframes. I have a few things to add to this discussion:g s.asp". Keep in mind that a Mainframe MIP is a little bigger than a PC MIP. Also, these are the low end.
1) These are my comments alone and DO NOT represent the opinions or policies of Amdahl Corporation. (sorry but I like my job and I've been warned before)
2) Mainframes are dead. Nobody makes Mainframes anymore. They have been replaced by "Global Servers". Honest.
3) The most expensive part of any "Global Server" installation is the Software. The license for operating systems and applications can easily be in the tens of thousands of dollars per month. This is one big area where Linux may come in. The price of hardware has come down so much that I'm told most companies view S/W costs second only to total system capabilities.
4) Most of the worlds data may still be on big iron, but most of the applications developers work on small machines. If you think it's sometimes hard to find that neat little app. for Linux, try finding it for OS/390, VM, or UTS. This is another area where Linux would help.
5) FYI. You can by low end Amdahl "Global Servers" on the web. Check them out at "http://eshopamdahl.com:80/eshop/millennium/confi
I also give a copy to all my friends who are new parents. Although I am disapointed that the last time I bought a copy the P.C. enforcers had managed to ge a disclaimer put on the front cover. I beleive it's a great book for children and Adults.
On another topic; how many folks knew Shel Silverstein wrote the Jonny Cash clasic "My Name is Sue". I just found that out last year. What a guy.