| IRIX | |
|---|---|
 IRIX 6.5 desktop | |
| Developer | Silicon Graphics |
| OS family | Unix (SVR3/SVR4.1ES) |
| Working state | Historic as of December 2013[1] |
| Source model | Closed source |
| Initial release | 1988; 38 years ago (1988) |
| Final release | 6.5.30 / 16 August 2006; 19 years ago (2006-08-16) |
| Marketing target | Workstations, servers |
| Supported platforms | MIPS |
| Kernel type | Monolithic kernel |
| Userland | POSIX |
| Default user interface | IRIX Interactive Desktop |
| License | Proprietary |
IRIX (/ˈaɪrɪks/,EYE-ricks, a portmanteau ofIRIS andUNIX) is a discontinuedoperating system developed bySilicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietaryMIPS workstations and servers. It is based onUNIX System V withBSD extensions. In IRIX, SGI originated theXFS file system and the industry-standardOpenGLgraphics API.
SGI originated the IRIX name in the 1988 release 3.0 of the operating system for theSGI IRIS 4D series of workstations and servers. Previous releases are identified only by the release number prefixed by "4D1-", such as "4D1-2.2". The "4D1-" prefix continued to be used in official documentation to prefix IRIX release numbers. Prior to the IRIS 4D, SGI bundled the GL2 operating system, based onUniSoft UniPlusSystem V Unix, and using the proprietaryMEX (Multiple EXposure)windowing system.[2][3]
IRIX 3.x was based onUNIX System V Release 3 with4.3BSD enhancements, and incorporated the 4Sightwindowing system, based onNeWS andIRIS GL. SGI'sExtent File System (EFS) replaced the System V filesystem.[4]
IRIX 4.0, released in 1991, replaced 4Sight with theX Window System (X11R4), the4Dwmwindow manager provided a similar look and feel to 4Sight.[4]
IRIX 5.0, released in 1993, incorporates certain features of UNIX System V Release 4, includingELF executables.[5][6][7] IRIX 5.3 introduced theXFSjournaling file system.[7][8]
In 1994, IRIX 6.0 added support for the 64-bit MIPSR8000 processor, but is otherwise similar to IRIX 5.2. Later 6.x releases support other members of the MIPS processor family in 64-bit mode. IRIX 6.3 was released for theSGI O2 workstation only.[7] IRIX 6.4 improvedmultiprocessor scalability for theOctane,Origin 2000, andOnyx2 systems. The Origin 2000 and Onyx2 IRIX 6.4 was marketed as "Cellular IRIX", although it only incorporates some features from the original Cellular IRIXdistributed operating system project.[9][10]
The last major version of IRIX is 6.5, released in May 1998. New minor versions of IRIX 6.5 were released every quarter until 2005, and then four minor releases.[5] Through version 6.5.22, there are two branches of each release: amaintenance release (identified by an "m" suffix) that includes only fixes to the original IRIX 6.5 code, and a feature release (with an "f" suffix) that includes improvements and enhancements. An overlay upgrade from 6.5.x to the 6.5.22 maintenance release was available as a free download, whereas versions 6.5.23 and higher required an active Silicon Graphics support contract.
A 2001Computerworld review found IRIX in a "critical" state. SGI had been moving its efforts toLinux and theWindows-basedSGI Visual Workstation but MIPS and IRIX customers convinced SGI to continue to support its platform through 2006.[11] On September 6, 2006, an SGI press release announced the end of the MIPS and IRIX product lines.[12] Production ended on December 29, 2006, with final deliveries in March 2007, except by special arrangement. Support for these products ended in December 2013 and they will receive no further updates.[13]
Much of IRIX's core technology has been open sourced and ported by SGI to Linux,[14][15][16][17][18] including XFS.[19][20][21]
In 2009, SGI filed for bankruptcy and then was purchased byRackable Systems,[22][23][24] which was later purchased byHewlett Packard Enterprise in 2016.[25][26] All SGI hardware produced after 2007 is based on eitherIA-64 orx86-64 architecture, so it is incapable of running IRIX and is instead intended forRed Hat Enterprise Linux orSUSE Linux Enterprise Server.[27][28][29][30][31] HPE has not stated any plans for IRIX development or source code release.
IRIX 6.5 is compliant withUNIX System V Release 4,UNIX 95, andPOSIX (including 1e/2c draft 15ACLs and Capabilities).[5]
In the early 1990s, IRIX was a leader inSymmetric Multi-Processing (SMP), scalable from 1 to more than 1,024 processors with a single system image. IRIX has strong support for real-time disk and graphics I/O. IRIX was widely used for the 1990s and 2000s in thecomputer animation andscientific visualization industries, due to its large application base and high performance. It still is relevant in a few legacy applications.
IRIX is one of the first Unix versions to feature agraphical user interface for the main desktop environment.IRIX Interactive Desktop uses the4DwmX window manager with a custom look designed using theMotif widget toolkit.[32] IRIX is the originator of the industry standardOpenGL for graphics chips and image processing libraries.[16][33][34][35][36]
IRIX uses theMIPSPro compiler for both its front end and back end.[37] The compiler, also known in earlier versions as IDO (IRIS Development Option),[38] was released in many versions, many of which are coupled to the OS version. The last version was 7.4.4m, designed for 6.5.19 or later. The compiler is designed to support parallelPOSIX programming in C/C++, Fortran 77/90. The Workshop GUI IDE is used for development. Other tools include Speedshop for performance tuning, andPerformance Co-Pilot.[39]
4Dwm is thewindow manager component of theIRIX Interactive Desktop normally used onSilicon Graphics workstations running IRIX. 4Dwm is derived from the olderMotif Window Manager and uses theMotifwidget toolkit on top of theX Window System found on mostUnix systems.[32][40][41] 4Dwm on IRIX was one of the first defaultgraphical user interface desktops to be standard on a Unix computer system. 4Dwm refers to "Fourth dimension window manager" and has no relation todwm.
OtherX window managers that mimic the 4Dwmlook and feel exist, such as 4Dwm theme forIceWM and MaxxDesktop[32] which is aclone/compatible implementation of 4Dwm based onOpenMotif. MaxxDesktop supports both the classicSGI look and a modern/polished look and feel withanti-aliased fonts andUTF-8 support.
.iris
