At 02:45 PM 4/9/2008, Donald Becker wrote:
A sad thing for me is that can no longer publish a similar CD. We were
heavily marketed against for being an integrated system, even to the point
of implying Scyld wasn't really Linux. In the end we had to change how we
deliver our system to make it clear. Today we have a two step install,
starting with a generic Linux distribution (typically CentOS or RHEL) and
later adding our packages. With this packaging we can longer have a live
CD that acts the same as the installed version.
<snip>
<snip>
Why point to Rocks as an example? Like so many other "cluster
systems" it's a non-architecture, an ad hoc system. It's a packaging and
support exercise, not innovation. It's a giant step back to the Windows
world when simple administration, such as adding new nodes, is done by
re-installation.
<snip>
And therein lies the challenge. If you sell clusters into a Linux
market, they beat you up for a "integrated install" and expect, nay,
demand, that they be able to tinker with every little aspect.
(engendered, of course, by the *almost* working nature of things like
make autoconfigure, and the generally heterogenous nature (if not
actually iconoclastic) of the user base)
OTOH, if you sell into the Windows market, they will expect a turnkey
integrated install, and eschew any tinkering. Remember.. this is a
market where the second tier customer support for a lot of
*application software* was "have you tried reformatting your hard
drive and reinstalling windows?". (Thankfully, that's not the case
any more, but it does set a pretty low bar for expectations...)
Jim
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