Linux Rules in the World of Supercomputers

Tux, as originally drawn by Larry Ewing 

Image via Wikipedia

It’s no secret that Linux has had trouble gaining momentum in the world of desktop computing. A majority of computer users have a difficult time grasping how it works and how it can be used. Those who have managed to use it successfully prefer Linux over Windows because of the ease of use, access to the operating system and the increased processor speed.

However, while Linux isn’t popular amongst the home PC crowd, it has gained superiority in the realm of supercomputers. These computers are used in universities, stock exchanges, computer science and more. Even IBM’s Watson runs on Linux.

A major driving force in the use of Linux for supercomputers is the speed and stability. A supercomputer can perform 8 quadrillion calculations per second, which requires a very stable operating system. Linux provides the necessary stability as well as speed. Stock exchanges prefer Linux for its ability to handle a million trades in the space of a second. This has enabled high-frequency traders to push through their blocks of trades and make their money for the day.

It may seem strange that an open-source operating system is being used in top universities and corporations. However, the open-source nature of Linux is what makes it attractive to these users. Their programmers can tweak and adjust Linux to their exact specifications, and not have to worry about the changes causing a fatal error.

Linux may never have much of a foothold in the home PC market beyond its geek cachet. But it does dominate the world of the supercomputer.

 

Linux: The Open Source Advantage

Conceptual Map of the FLOSS (Free/Libre Open S...
Image via Wikipedia

It is the unhappy truth of your life, the constant dissatisfaction: the notion of computers and their softwares eludes you. Technology and sense cannot greet each other as old companions. They are instead forced to singularities, unable to tangle as they should. And such a lack of unison has left you without the easy inspiration. Others, you are certain, can craft programs from simple desire. They can shape scripts into decisive applications, the clever markups. You, however, are unable to even consider the idea. It seems beyond your abilities and your comprehension.

It’s not.

While the common softwares (with their carefully guarded codes and indecipherable language) will deny you the chance to educate yourself, Linux options are far different – they do not refuse individuals the opportunities to learn and to create. They instead encourage such things with their open sources.

Defined simply: an open source is the exposed lines of scripts within a specific program. These lines are not protected by copyrights and exhausting bureaucracy. They are instead deemed malleable, able to be claimed by an individual and changed into new functions or potentials. Without the usual care for distribution rights or punishable legalities, users can form entirely unique programs from a single source.

And it is this that will be your salvation.

While Linux may seem too complicated for your clumsy thoughts (not yet formed to the needed genius, the understanding of subtlety), it is instead tailored just for you. Software can be explored, glimpsed through your own methodologies and schedules. You may take the open source and play with its boundaries; expanding them into unexpected meanings. For the novice this becomes the ultimate tool. It’s success offered without restriction. It’s convenience given willingly.

And this brands Linux a far better alternative to the typical applications. The purpose is to redefine codes. The intention is a perpetual curiosity. And such goals are precisely what those who lack knowledge need.

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