[Beowulf] MS Cray

[Gus Correa]

Hi Gerry and Beowulf fans

Gerry Creager wrote:

> Gus Correa wrote:
>
>> Here is the link to the  CX1 on the Cray web site:
>> http://www.cray.com/products/CX1.aspx
>> You need MS Explorer to customize/price it.
>
>
> I just knew you had to be wrong, but sure enough, I can't see config 
> options.  

Thanks for your trust!

> It's a show stopper for me.  If I need IE to buy the system, it's not 
> likely to happen until A) there's an IE that runs natively on *nix, 
> and B) it doesn't have the myriad problems associated with IE in the 
> past.
>
BTW, the Cray web site was changed today,
and now I can configure/price the CX1 from Linux/Firefox.

Gus Correa

> I do admit to a sinking feeling when I noted that the front page (and 
> of course, the subsequent pages) were ASPX...
>
> I suspect Microsoft has been listening here.  I also suspect this 
> machine will do ok in the business world, but somehow I doubt they're 
> gonna see significant headway in a lot of the scientific arenas.  If 
> you aren't computer literate, you're not likely to port a complicated 
> model from *nix to Windows, nor are you likely to write a significant 
> piece of code.  I've a geodesist friend who DOES write solely for 
> Windows, but that's a conscious choice by someone who was a talented 
> computer scientist first, and a geodesist later in life.  He uses 
> Windows because, well, mainly because the folks he teaches, and writes 
> code for, do.  However, he's the exception.
>
> The CX1 looks like something I'd love next to my desk -- with Linux on 
> it -- to accomplish testing before I take something to the big iron.  
> It might even allow me to pre- and post-process my data for hurricane 
> WRF runs.  It's not hefty enough to let me do those runs in the 
> timeframe I require otherwise.
>
> It's a tool, not a solution.
>
> gerry
>