“Computing heavyweights IBM, NEC, Intel, SGI, Dell Computer
and Hewlett-Packard are joining with Linux companies to coax the
operating system into high-end, multiprocessor machines… the
computing powerhouses are joining forces to create a laboratory
in Oregon where open-source programmers can improve the performance
of Linux and associated software on these expensive servers.
The new Open-Source Development Laboratory, in which the companies
will pour millions of dollars annually, will provide a way for
independent programmers to push Linux into this high-prestige
domain.”
“The partnership also includes the four major commercial sellers
of Linux–Red Hat, SuSE, TurboLinux and Caldera Systems–as well as
computer maker VA Linux Systems, Linux services company Linuxcare
and embedded Linux company LynuxWorks.”
“Linux grew up on single-processor computers, mostly those based
on Intel chips–not coincidentally, the types of computers that are
easy to come by. But finding machines with two processors, much
less 32, has been a lot harder for the volunteer crowd of
programmers that has built Linux from scratch. As a result, Linux
has shown more promise than performance in these powerful and
expensive machines.”