Developers release Linux for clustered computing

A group of French developers has released the first version of a Linux distribution intended to ease administration of PC clusters.

Called Clic, the software is a collaborative project of partners including software and services firms MandrakeSoft, Bull and a Paris research laboratory. Released free under the General Public License, the software is aimed at allowing users to connect together low-cost PCs to handle the kind of complex computational tasks usually tackled by expensive supercomputers.

This first Clic release has been tested on 20- and 40-dual AMD processor clusters at the LPM2C physics research center in France. Support for Intel's Itanium 2 processors is scheduled for availability in 2003, according to MandrakeSoft.

The Clic software is available here.  

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.