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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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OS market share in Top 500 supercomputers (feddit.org)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer_operating_system
Author: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Benedikt.Seidl
Data from: http://top500.org/stats

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

But, surely Windows is the wrong OS?

Windows is a per-user GUI... supercomputing is all about crunching numbers, isn't it?

I can understand M$ trying to get into this market and I know Windows server can be used to run stuff, but again, you don't need a GUI on each node a supercomputer they'd be better off with DOS...?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

I could see the NT kernel being okay in isolation, but the rest of Windows coming along for the ride puts the kibosh on that idea.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

But, surely Windows is the wrong OS?

Oh yes! To be clear - trying to put any version of Windows on a super-computer is every bit as insane as you might imagine. By what I heard in the rumor mill, it went every bit as badly as anyone might have guessed.

But I like to root for an underdog, and it was neat to hear about Microsoft engineers trying to take the Windows kernel somewhere it had no rational excuse to run (at the time - and I wonder if they had internal beta versions of stuff that Windows ships standard now, like SSH...), perhaps by sheer force of will and hard work.