"Yes, we need a custom chip; the NR9000 is still a general-purpose card after all."
"Strengthen the triangle treatment and reduce some unnecessary parts?"
"Okay, that's the general direction for now. There's no rush. I'll discuss it further with Micro-Nova Semiconductor later."
Inside the office.
Lin Lixin and Jensen Huang discussed the issue of custom graphics cards.
Neither the Wonder nor the Radeon is suitable for the next generation of new models.
These graphics cards are designed for PCs and compatible PCs.
Not only is it expensive to manufacture, but it also wastes a significant amount of performance.
For a device like a game console with such clearly defined requirements, it's entirely possible to customize a dedicated version to showcase their precise cutting skills.
Just then, there was a knock on the office door.
Carmack led Linus in.
Seeing the slightly resentful look on his face, Lin Lixin knew that the two of them had probably argued quite a bit on the way.
After all, although both of them are top experts in the field, their thinking is completely different.
Conflicts of ideas are perfectly normal.
The young man following behind him, who looked somewhat scholarly and was about the same age as Carmack, was clearly the person he was looking for.
He will be a very important presence in the upcoming next generation, and even in the future mobile era.
Hello, Linus.
"Yes."
Linus nodded shyly, but his gaze inadvertently drifted to Jensen Huang, who was walking past him and leaving the office.
For some reason, a sudden, inexplicable chill ran through him.
If it weren't for the current situation and atmosphere, he might have even blurted out "Fuck" to the other person.
Although he didn't actually know who this person was.
"Well, I believe Carmack has already given you a general overview of the situation on the way, right? I instructed him to make sure you were properly shown around the area."
"Uh, yes, he is indeed very serious."
Linus nodded, slightly embarrassed.
He realized that he had come to learn from Lin Lixin, and now that he had calmed down and thought about it carefully, his behavior of pressing Carmack on the way was indeed not very rational.
Before even arriving at the company, I was already being berated by one of their top lieutenants. Then, as soon as I entered the office, I almost inexplicably started yelling at another person who was clearly a high-ranking executive.
I was really too sleepy to think straight.
"Okay, that's good. Basically, I'm very interested in the operating system you're developing."
Lin Lixin gestured for him to find a place to sit, "But don't misunderstand, I'm not planning to steal your code this way, I just intend to develop some branch versions based on it."
"It's alright, Mr. Lin. It will be open source once I finish it."
Even without today's events, according to Linus's own vision, this project would eventually have been completely open source for developers.
"You want to open-source it?"
Before Lin Lixin could say anything, Carmack, who was standing to the side, was somewhat surprised.
Despite their serious ideological differences, they absolutely shared one thing in common.
They are all "programming libertarians," advocating for open-source projects and opposing closed-source projects.
This is also why he is so enthusiastic about the current NovaScripts project and the Quake Engine.
These things are practically synonymous with open source, which hits him right on the sweet spot.
Carmack initially thought Linus was just another genius who relied on his superior skills to act arrogantly and planned to make a fortune through his skills, just like other geniuses in Silicon Valley.
In California, geniuses are a dime a dozen.
Whether Linus said this to create a positive image for himself or because he genuinely meant it, it doesn't matter.
At least for Carmack now, his opinion of Linus has changed considerably.
"Yes, just like the BSD system, I'm not a genius. Only by making the code public can more real geniuses and smart people help me find problems and improve it, making it better."
In a sense, what Lin Lixin did was exactly the effect he wanted.
It's just that I haven't had time to open-source it yet.
From this perspective, although both Carmack and Linus were essentially free software advocates, their commitment to open source was different.
The understanding, however, is completely different.
Linus's thinking is more pragmatic; he simply believes that software should be free, and that open-source collaboration is the key to creating better products.
Carmack, on the other hand, believed that sharing technology could drive progress across the entire industry.
Just like how the Quake Engine led to a huge number of Quake clones on the market.
"However, Mr. Lin, I have read your version, and frankly, I think that with your abilities, you don't need me to do anything at all."
"Perhaps, but I'm a game producer, and I don't have that much time to spend on things outside of games."
Lin Lixin smiled. "In short, I don't intend for you to work at GAMENOVA. On the contrary, I will provide you with funding, technical support, hardware support, and of course, necessary housing so that you can have a quieter environment to complete it."
The greatness of Linu stems from its open-source nature.
If Lin Lixin had simply bought it outright with his wealth, perhaps an excellent operating system would still have emerged in the world.
But it will definitely not be Linu.
"Yet another excellent closed-source system" is not what Lin Lixin wants.
Have you played Battlefield 1991, which we released recently?
"Uh—sorry, I've heard about it, but I've been quite busy lately."
"Okay, so we wrote a dedicated server program for Battlefield 1991, but I've discovered that there isn't a single operating system on the market that's truly suitable for servers."
Lin Lixin said.
This is one of Linux's two core application scenarios: servers.
Looking at the modern computer world, Linu has almost completely dominated the modern Internet.
Today, the vast majority of web servers, cloud servers, data centers, Docker, and computing platforms all run on Linux.
In other words, this seemingly insignificant little thing will become the cornerstone of the internet industry in the future.
It became the cornerstone of a large number of internet companies, including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Netflix.
It doesn't rely on unparalleled performance or a sufficiently robust ecosystem.
It's open source.
The source code is completely open, and companies can view, modify, optimize, and maintain their own versions.
These qualities are exactly what these giants need most.
Safe, reliable, easy to port, and stable.
In addition, Linux's core ideas are inherited from Unicode: multi-user, multi-tasking, network priority, and long-term stability.
These are all things that a server must have.
Once a server is up and running, it will likely only experience a handful of downtimes throughout its long lifespan.
If you're using Windows, just maintaining the handle leaks caused by long-running processes would be a huge headache.
With the rapid development of the Internet and the increasingly demanding requirements of GAMENOVA for online games, the old servers have become increasingly unable to meet their needs.
To solve this problem, a dedicated server system becomes a necessity.
In addition, although it's still early, Linu will become a crucial component of future mobile strategies.
Android.
Its underlying architecture is the Linux kernel.
Linu's excellent hardware management strategy makes it suitable for any hardware platform.
Whether it's CPU scheduling, memory and power management, driver and network processing, or security isolation, all of these have been solved by Linux.
All Android really needs to do is build a mobile ecosystem.
To put it bluntly, Linux is the underlying foundation of almost everything in the modern computer world, and it is the most important underlying infrastructure in the Internet age.
Of course, in the upcoming 32-bit era, Linu will also do GAMENOVA a big favor.
But that's a story for another time.
As for now, all I need to do is protect this sapling as much as possible and wait for it to break through the soil and grow into a towering tree that covers the entire modern society.
"Oh, by the way, Nexus has developed a version control software that I think you'd be very interested in. You can talk to Connor and the others about it sometime. Although I'm sponsoring you, you are officially considered an employee of GAMENOVA."
Speaking of Connor, another name suddenly flashed through Lin Lixin's mind.
Sarah Connor.
Thinking about it this way, it seems like the Terminator 2 will be released this year.
"Wow, time flies! So many years have passed in the blink of an eye."
Back when the Terminator 1 was released, Gamenova had only been around for a short time.
Using the money he earned from playing Tetris arcade games, he and Gerald built a Contra board by hand.
It was through this thing that he got in touch with Governor Arnold, whom he couldn't afford to date back then.
In the blink of an eye, the Terminator 2 is almost here.
"So, Street Fighter has been around for quite a few years now."
Anyway, the next generation of consoles is still some time away.
Or how about we invite some old friends over for a get-together?
Los Angeles, Hollywood.
Inside the Terminator 2 studio.
Schwarzenegger, who had just finished filming a scene, sat in a chair, leisurely sipping his coffee.
" Arnold, your phone."
The agent walked up to him.
"Phone? Whose is it?"
If it were a normal phone call, his agent would handle it all for him.
Since it's currently filming, the fact that this matter has been transferred to me must mean something quite important.
For example, film contracts with big IPs.
Schwarzenegger is now a hot commodity in Hollywood action films; every director wants a piece of his action movie.
The iconic screen images of " Guile " and "T-800" alone are enough to solidify his place in film history.
"You absolutely don't want to miss this, Arnold. If I were you, I'd run to the phone right now as fast as I can."
"Ha?"
Schwarzenegger paused, somewhat puzzled by his nonsensical words.
But looking at the strange expression on his agent's face, a flash of inspiration struck him in an instant.
The next moment, his pupils contracted sharply, and he hurriedly threw the coffee in his hand to his agent and ran to the phone as fast as he could.
"It's me."
"Hey Arnold, interested in appearing in a new fighting game?"