[Beowulf] MS HPC on the door step

[Douglas Eadline]

Well, the time is here. When MS puts their marketing machine in gear they
will be sending a clear an consistent message to the HPC community. At
this
point I have to ask "What is the Linux Cluster message?"

Over the last 3-4 years I have been involved in trying to help formulate
and broadcast this message for the Linux Cluster community, first  with
ClusterWorld Magazine, and now ClusterMonkey.net. I also worked quite a
bit on putting together what I call The Cluster Agenda.

  http://agenda.clustermonkey.net/

In particular, I designed the Cluster Agenda to be a community Wiki that
will provide a "road map of best practices and challenges" to the Linux
cluster community. My vision was that it would provide
a starting point for those interested in HPC cluster computing.

To date, the Cluster Agenda has seen minimal input from the community.
(even after numerous invitation to those on this list to contribute) In
addition, I have seen minimal support from vendors to help sponsor
ClusterMonkey.net. I find this both puzzling and troubling. It reminds me
of the short-sighted
vendor strategy used in the UNIX wars.

The sense I get is that many people are concerned about the MS foray into
this space, but short of stating various doom and gloom scenarios, see
very little else that can be done. I would be interested in the opinions
of those who have followed this list and community over the years.

As for the ClusterMonkey.net and the Cluster Agenda, I and some other
volunteers will continue to help support the community with these efforts,
but our voice is not as loud as it could be.

--
Doug
(Head Monkey)