The OS for Linux and High Performance Computing

- Overview

The operating system is the interface between the user and the device. For a classic computer, the main function of the operating system is to manage all the hardware and software of the device. The most common operating systems developed for classic computers are Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. Best of all, these operating systems are usually pre-installed, so it's easy. Users require minimal effort to get started.

However, there is no basic operating system. for quantum computers. The problem is that researchers are divided on whether an operating system for a quantum computer should be developed. Therefore, developing operating systems for quantum computing in general is a topic of great interest to researchers.

The development of operating systems is definitely a satisfying way to test the limits of quantum computing, but we don't know what our computer architecture will look like in the next decade or two, so this research is somewhat speculative. But if quantum computers are the way forward, the future of computing can be seen better.

Please refer to the following for more information:

• Wikipedia: Linux

- Linux OS

Linux is potentially a game-changer in manufacturer and product user interaction. Unlike many operating systems, Linux is open source and freely available for everyone to own it. You can download and install GNU/Linux distributions without purchase. Some companies offer paid support for their Linux distributions, but the underlying software is still free to download and install.

That’s why people needn’t rely on software suppliers as much as they would with a licensed product. They can use and transform it as they see fit, creating new versions and sharing them with others. This process gives us a degree of self-sufficiency you would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

As a result, more power lies in the hands of the consumer, both in regards to user independence and controlling the quality of the software they prefer to use. A huge step away from what we’re used to, this new approach could forever change how we look at operating systems.

- Linux and Supercomputing

Linux dominates supercomputing. The Linux operating system runs all 500 of the fastest supercomputers in the world, which helps advance artificial intelligence, machine learning and even COVID-19 research. 

While most modern supercomputers use the Linux operating system, each manufacturer makes their own specific changes to the Linux derivatives they use, and no industry standard exists, in part because differences in hardware architecture require changes to be tailored to each The hardware design optimizes the operating system. 

Why do supercomputers use Linux? After seeing the expert opinion, let's detail the characteristics of Linux that make Linux the best choice for supercomputers:  

• Modularity of Linux
• General properties of the Linux kernel
• Scalability
• Open source nature
• Community support
• Cost

Given that modern massively parallel supercomputers typically separate computation from other services by using multiple types of nodes, they typically run different operating systems on different nodes, for example using small, efficient lightweight cores such as compute node cores ( CNK) or Compute Node Linux (CNL) is a Linux derivative on compute nodes, but on larger systems such as servers and input/output (I/O) nodes.

- Quantum Computing OS

Quantum computing is a type of computation that exploits the collective properties of quantum states, such as superposition, interference, and entanglement, to perform computations. Devices that perform quantum computations are called quantum computers. Although current quantum computers are too small to outperform ordinary (classical) computers in practical applications, they are believed to be able to solve certain computational problems, such as integer factorization (which is the basis of RSA encryption), much faster than classical computers . The study of quantum computing is a subfield of quantum information science. 

An operating system is designed to manage a computer's hardware and software resources. With the development of quantum computing, the management of quantum resources and the collaboration of quantum systems with other computing resources (such as CPU, GPU, and FPGA, etc.) have become key challenges for quantum computing applications to solve real-world problems.

Currently, quantum computers are not even fully used for programming, but some notable operating systems have been developed recently, which is definitely good news for future enhancements to quantum computing.