From the world of design automation: Bruce Perens urges the EDA
community to solve interoperability issues by adopting Linux and
other open-source technologies. Meanwhile, Greg Spirakis, director
of design technology at Intel Corp., tells how Intel saved $24.4
million by scrapping UNIX and instead implemented Linux on 700
machines performing logic simulation:
“Meanwhile, panelist Greg Spirakis, director of design
technology at Intel Corp., demonstrated how Intel reduced the costs
of running verification (workstation utilization on 700 machines)
by adopting Linux. According to Spirakis, logic simulation in his
group consumed 80 percent of his group’s compute time and cost $30
million. He reported that costs to run the 700 workstations running
on Linux now cost $5.6 million, while the move provided a 2x
performance increase over the Unix system.”‘But on the bad side, it took us a whole month to port to
Linux,’ jested Spirakis, who said that the company is overjoyed in
the $24.4 million savings and 2x performance improvement that came
from the adoption of Linux — the product of an open-source
effort.”