Science and Linux

The benefits

Easy to port Unix-based software to Linux
Wide range of ported scientific software: programs, libraries and development tools
Very stable: essential for long-term numerical analysis and modelling work
High performance: critical for many applications
Excellent virtual memory facilities for large-memory applications
SMP and cluster support for high-performance computing
Industry standard windowing system (X11), with OpenGL support
Free source encourages developers to write new extensions and drivers for Linux (such as the Real Time Linux project)
Excellent support
Linux is available on a wide variety of computer hardware, including the common Intel x86, Sparc, Alpha and Macintosh platforms
Scalable from small embedded systems to large HPC systems
Open source software encourages intelligent (and economical) reuse of software, leveraging better programs from the efforts of others in a collaborative fashion
Linux integrates easily into any laboratory or office environment:
- Filesystems: DOS, NT, Unix, Mac
- Networking: SMB, Netware, NFS, Appletalk
- Emulators: DOS, Windows, Macintosh
- Office software: StarOffice, WordPerfect, Applixware

Vendors are only now beginning to take Linux seriously
User-friendly software has never been an emphasis
Wide range of distributions can give a perception of a fragmented OS
There are no distributions specifically for embedded applications
Many scientific applications (and libraries) are not distributed as packages (eg. as RPM or deb packages) - this is because of the relatively low demand for these applications

Updated: 20 June 1999