On Tue, Feb 12, 2002 at 10:47:46AM +1100, Craig Ian Dewick wrote: > On Mon, 11 Feb 2002, Bob Van Cleef wrote: > > > Has anyone seen any indication of a sea change since the press release > > stating the Sun was embracing Linux? > > Yes, and it was quite disturbing that Sun is planning to release new > systems based not on the Sparc architecture, but the x86 one! When I read > that I was a little confused, but since Sun has this alliance with the > other big iron companies which will see it move away from Ultrasparc > processors, it's hardly surprising to see Sun getting into bed with the > company that provides the foundation for their opposite number (ie. > Megasloth Windoze Xtremely Pathetic). I doubt that it quite means a move away from Sparc. I did a double take when I saw the announcement, too. But then memory kicked in: The product line to which it refers is the Cobalt Raq servers, which they bought out not too long ago. Which were some of the first turnkey (shipped with Linux installed) boxes available. I think Sun is just hedging their bets. > I've seen the annoucements on of the latest additions to the > Ultrasparc-III servers, and I wonder if this will be the last progression > for the Ultrasparc processors? I know Sun Labs were working on the > Ultrasparc-IV processor but I heard it was stopped in favour of going with > something from Intel. Any truth to that? No clue. I would think (and hope) that Sun has enough market share in the mid / high end market to make it worth keeping up. I don't think there is much serious competetion for the E10k, in the niche that it occupies. And just the benefit of being able to run headless with a real serial port console (i.e. including being able to get to the "BIOS") is enough benefit over Intel stuff for me. (I keep hoping that someone will start shipping Intel boards with the Linux BIOS Project ROMs on them. <2 sec. POST time and true serial port console. Drool.) > > A quick look at the Linux pages on the Sun.COM website last week did not > > turn up anything other than the annoucement. > > > > http://www.sun.com/2002-0206/linux/ > > > > The "expanding the role of linux on entry level servers" sounds promising > > in relation to my Blade-100 problems. > > It's good for Sparc platforms I guess. I do wonder though which of the > 'flavours' of Linux Sun plans to take on board? I wouldn't hold your breath -- I don't think they're talking about the Sparc line. I wish they would. Later, Rob.
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