Re: Linus at Fermilab

[Jay Link <jlink@interlink-bbs.com>]

I sent this Sunday night, but I guess the list was down.  -J

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 23:46:21 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jay Link <jlink@radish.interlink-bbs.com>
To: luci-discuss@luci.org
Subject: Re: Linus at Fermilab


Hey all,

> > > So, what's the scoop with Linus at Fermilab? Do we know time(s), prices,
> > > specific buildings?
> > > 
> > > -Jay Link
> > 
> > Slashdot just posted a link to the event, but it says it's only for
> > employees and their families...

I just got back from El Lab de Enrico Fermi, which had NO security, making
my "unauthorized" access fairly easy.  :)  The talk was in Wilson Hall,
which is this big building that looks like "Atari Headquarters", if there
were such a thing(!).

Anyway, nothing spectacular happened, but our man, Mr. T., did say that
"his company" would be working on new CPUs. So maybe _that's_ what
Transmeta's all about?!

He basically talked for a half hour, and then there was an hour long Q & A
session. One person asked about GUIs, and he said that he had little
interest and even less influence. He thought there'd be one standard
within a year. He said all he needed computers for was to compile the
kernel, but he understood that other people had different needs. Ha!  :)

He said the kernel should have complete SMP support by release 3.0.

He also said that he didn't think Intel's 64-bit Merced would be worth the
wait, and that people would be better off clustering 32-bit systems. He
said that clustered quad-processor systems (that are available today) are
great, and that if money is a concern, that he recommends networked duals.

Finally, he commented that the reason that many vendors don't release
information needed to create Linux drivers for their products is not that
they're worried about proprietary matters, but rather that they're worried
about people finding out that their hardware is full of bugs(!). 

So, all in all, it was pretty fun.

-Jay Link


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