Dell; Opteron makes sense!

[Derek Baker]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14426

 

[Robert Myers]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14426

The original interview article

http://www.01net.com/article/233903.html

has a misleading headline:

Michael Dell : « Nous lancerons bientôt des serveurs à base de
processeurs AMD »

Michael Dell: "We will soon launch servers based on AMD processors."

The actual exchange in the interview doesn't say that:

01 Informatique : Vous êtes le seul constructeur à n'utiliser que des
processeurs Intel. Mais vous testez actuellement l'Opteron d'AMD.
Allez-vous l'exploiter ?

Michael Dell : Tout d'abord, je pense que prendre les instructions x86
et les étendre en 64 bits est une très bonne idée. Mais aujourd'hui,
AMD n'est plus le seul à appuyer cette idée : Intel le fait aussi.
Nous aurons donc des serveurs utilisant des processeurs x86 avec des
extensions 64 bits. Et cela avant même que les logiciels compatibles
soient disponibles. Quant à savoir si proposer à la fois des serveurs
Intel et AMD au catalogue a un sens, la réponse est clairement oui.

My translation:

01 Informatique: You are the only builder not to use other than Intel.
But you are currently testing the AMD Opteron. Will you use it?

Michael Dell: First of all, I think that taking the x86 instructions
and extending them to 64 bits is a very good idea. But today, AMD
isn't the only one to apply that idea: Intel is doing it, too. We
will therefore have servers using x-86 processors with 64-bit
extensions. And that even before compatible software would be
available. As to know if to offer Intel and AMD at the same time
makes some sense, the answer clearly is yes.

That's classic Michael Dell, and I don't think he's saying anything he
hasn't already said before. My idiomatic French isn't good enough to
know exactly what weight to give to "a un sens," and it isn't clear
whether the interview was conducted in French or in English, so we
don't know whose words they are, anyway. If the interview was
conducted in English and translated into French, heaven only knows
what Michael Dell's actual words were, especially given the headline,
which isn't supported even by the text in French.

RM

RM

 

[Tony Hill]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14426

There definitely seems to be some confusion going on in the
translation, especially since I think the original interview was done
in English and then translated to French and now being translated back
to English (fun activity for the read: try doing that in the Bablefish
and see what sort of nonsense you can get out of it! :> ).

My take on it though is that what Michael Dell is getting at is that
it makes sense to TEST servers with processors from both AMD and
Intel.

The interview doesn't seem to indicate that Dell will actually *offer*
servers using AMD chips, and it DEFINITELY doesn't justify the totally
incorrect headline that says "We will soon launch servers based on AMD
processors". It's especially bad since it was listed as quote from
Michael Dell when it clearly was not a direct quote.

In case anyone missed the link in Robert's post, here' the original
French article.

http://www.01net.com/article/233903.html

 

[RusH]

Michael Dell: First of all, I think that taking the x86
instructions and extending them to 64 bits is a very good idea.
But today, AMD isn't the only one to apply that idea: Intel is
doing it, too.

... on paper :/
And thats exactly what pissed off Linus Torwalds.

Pozdrawiam.

 

[George Macdonald]

That's classic Michael Dell, and I don't think he's saying anything he
hasn't already said before. My idiomatic French isn't good enough to
know exactly what weight to give to "a un sens," and it isn't clear
whether the interview was conducted in French or in English, so we
don't know whose words they are, anyway. If the interview was
conducted in English and translated into French, heaven only knows
what Michael Dell's actual words were, especially given the headline,
which isn't supported even by the text in French.

And French is not the laguage of diplomacy without reason. Impossible
to know even if the 01net reporter just wanted to make a splash with the
headline or if he honestly mistook what Dell was saying. I'd also remark
that "au catalogue" does not necessarily mean *his* catalogue or even
anyone else's specific "catalogue" - it could simply be the global one.

I'd tend to think the original interview was conducted in English - reading
the rest of the article, I'd say it would be unusual to find an American
who speaks French as portrayed and knows and uses terms of French IT jargon
like PGI... meaning Progiciel de Gestion Intégrée. Not impossible
but...<shrug>

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

[Rob Stow]

And French is not the laguage of diplomacy without reason. Impossible
to know even if the 01net reporter just wanted to make a splash with the
headline or if he honestly mistook what Dell was saying. I'd also remark
that "au catalogue" does not necessarily mean *his* catalogue or even
anyone else's specific "catalogue" - it could simply be the global one.

I'd tend to think the original interview was conducted in English - reading
the rest of the article, I'd say it would be unusual to find an American
who speaks French as portrayed and knows and uses terms of French IT jargon
like PGI... meaning Progiciel de Gestion Intégrée. Not impossible
but...<shrug>

A perusal of the results of a search for "Michael Dell" + biography
didn't run up anything that suggests he speaks any languages other
than perhaps English. Not even that was confirmed :-D