Subject: Re: Alpha + Linux ?

From: Markus Dickebohm <[email-masked]>
Date: 02 Aug 1997 18:03:10 +0200

>> Cheol Choi schrieb am Fri, 1 Aug 1997 15:08:55 -0400 (EDT):

> Is there anyone who has good experience with Alpha + Linux combination?

Linux is really running quite well on the Alpha platform in the
meantime. We have it running on a little workstation for more than a
year now.

But if you're interested in pure number crunching performance, one
has to consider that the freely available compilers (gcc, f2c) aren't
as good optimized for the Alpha processors as their Digital Unix
counterparts. The situation has been improved much in the last months
but I think DEC still has a little projection.

If you're doing Fortran development it has to be mentioned that the
GNU Fortran Compiler g77 isn't yet ported to Linux Alpha. There was a
successful call for donations on the Alpha-Linux mailinglists for
buying an Alpha machine for the main g77-developper Craig
Burley. Since Craig is using the Alpha now as main development
platform most of the port has been done these days but it isn't
finished.

The last major disadvantage of Linux on the Alpha platform is a linker
bug which prevents building large binaries (as far as I know, this is
why Gaussian hasn't been ported to Linux until now).

But: if you have a Digital Unix license you can compile your programs on
a machine running Digital Unix and execute them on the Linux one. This
way you get the advantages of both worlds.

Markus

-- 
Markus Dickebohm        E-Mail: [email-masked]
Physical Chemistry      
University of Cologne
Germany