3 ms·

I bet you’re not that far from 99% on supercomputers running Linux. Drivers are not the bulk of the system. Obviously desktops aren’t at 99% unless you’re runn

• ekianjo 8y ago
  > I bet you’re not that far from 99% on supercomputers running Linux. Drivers are not the bulk of the system. No, compilers should also count, and i'm not just talking about drivers. Everything from data storage (file system) to data transfer between the different racks of a supercomputer is usually proprietary. Seriously, look it up. > Obviously desktops aren’t at 99% unless you’re running Linux. No, even your Linux desktop is far from being 100% open source. How about the BIOS? The Intel microcode? Even open source GPU drivers interface with proprietary interfaces on the actual hardware. And let's not forget that many Linux distros don't make it very clear if what you are installing is actually free software or a proprietary blob. The reality is that it's very hard to have something fully running on free/open source software from A to Z.
  • dpark 8y ago
    I’ve worked on clustered computers. It’s been a while, but I doubt they’ve progressed to more closed. I feel like you’re listing small pieces of the system and for some reason acting as if those are the majority of the code.