By William Fellows
SGI is putting its foot down on the open source gas because it believes there will be more opportunity to differentiate around Linux than Windows NT servers. Certainly its recent activity in the open source world suggests it want to be the Linux server company. Its Intel servers due in the summer will run Linux or NT. SGI is gradually unpacking its Irix Unix and moving pieces into the open source world. This week CEO Rick Belluzzo told a Merrill Lynch & Co conference in New York that he is still not satisfied with the SGI’s model. SGI has declining businesses – including supercomputers – which are offsetting growing ones such as NT. As for becoming a Linux server company, it beats becoming an NT also-ran, observes Merrill Lynch & Co. The Cary supercomputing business may be waning but it’s still high- profile. This week SGI extended its relationship with NASA to develop new parallel applications and support tools; optimized operating system software; and high-availability features for low-level components.
