SGI and IRIX Archive

In light of the SCO allegations, SGI's code comparison was done during September using the Comparator software created by open source advocate Eric Raymond, as well as some other internally developed tools, according to SGI. It compared source code from the Unix System V release 4.1 software that SGI has licensed from SCO with a version of the Linux kernel released this June, SGI said.

Silicon Graphics Inc says that it has received notice from SCO Group Inc that the Unix vendor intends to terminate its Unix System V license on the basis that SGI has breached the terms of the license. UPDATE: SGI's letter to the Open Source Community.

As of August 6, 2003, IRIX 6.5.21 is releasing with all new systems shipping from SGI worldwide manufacturing centers. The IRIX 6.5.21 release contains both maintenance and feature updates. This release continues the focus on stability, reliability, security, and compatibility required in the IRIX 6.5.XX quarterly release process.

SGI recently completed its port of OpenOffice.org 1.0.3.1 to IRIX. It's available in tarball format here or with IRIX desktop integration and in inst format here.

IRIX 6.5.20 is releasing with all new systems shipping from SGI worldwide manufacturing centers. The IRIX 6.5.20 release contains both maintenance and feature updates.

The recent SGI IRIX 6.5.19 release contains updates for both the maintenance (6.5.19m) and feature (6.5.19f) streams. This release continues the focus on stability, reliability, security and compatibility required in the IRIX 6.5.X quarterly release process.

"One of Linux's supposed barriers in high performance computing is the 'eight processor limit.' SGI says their new Altix 3000 line, running a patched 2.4.19 kernel, handily breaks this barrier -- it can run up to 64 Intel Itanium 2 microprocessers -- and that "superclusters" built with SGI's Linux-based products can outperform generic Linux clusters in some applications by a large enough margin to justify their additional cost." Read the full article at NewsForge.

SGI has a new refrigerator-sized Linux server that uses up to 64 Itanium processors. Called the Altix 3000, it's a Linux adaptation of the Origin 3000. Its most interesting capability is the ability to cluster several Altix 3000s together, with the architecture supporting up to 2,048 processors. Read more about it at ZDNet.

The IRIX 6.5.18 release contains updates for both the maintenance and feature streams. This release continues the focus on stability, reliability, security and compatibility required in the IRIX 6.5.X quarterly release process. Approximately 118 customer reported incidents are fixed in this release.

A new supercomputer from SGI packs far more computing power per square inch than do competing machines, a breakthrough the company hopes will help it flourish in what it sees as a renaissance in supercomputing.

We ran a story the other day regarding the future patches for IRIX that would only be available via special contracts. SGI sent OSNews the following statement regarding the patches/maintance releases and feature streams (==updates that include new features) for IRIX 6.5.

With the upcoming release of IRIX 6.5.18, SGI will stop offering the maintenance stream updates for free. SGI will require special contracts for downloading new patches. OSNews recently featured an introduction to IRIX.

For our special SGI day, that is today, OSNews sent a number of questions to SGI regarding the company's products and a number of different people replied for this interview. We hope that this interview will familiarize more people with SGI, their products and their strategy.

Two top execs at the high-end computing pioneer explain how the troubled company's turnaround strategy is going. Silicon Graphics (SGI ) was one of Silicon Valley's computing pioneers. It invented much of the visualization and graphics technology used today by the Defense Dept., Hollywood, and the medical industries for manipulating vast amounts of complex data and for working in graphics-rich computer environments.