this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If they were more efficient per watt for scientific computing, you'd hear about researchers building HPC clusters from them.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

*more efficient than regular PCs. Not more efficient than supercomputers lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If they were more efficient per watt for scientific computing, you’d hear about researchers building HPC clusters from them.

Efficiency per watt is not the same as total cost of ownership. Pis are expensive for the amount of compute you get from them in total, but the compute itself is efficient per watt. You would need at least a dozen Pis to rival the latest CPU processors in terms of total output, a dozen Pis is more expensive to buy than a single CPU.