About the Merced: the probability of Linux users getting advance
information from Intel on the Merced is zero. Moreover we would need
information on IA-64 technology and their "EPIC" instruction set to get
a version of gcc working, even before we get a Linux kernel working on a
Merced.
Unless of course we use Merced's x86 compatible mode, and accept to take
a performance hit of 70%, which would make Linux look like a slouch next
to an NT machine running IA-64 code natively. Given the "friendly"
relationship between Intel and Microsoft, we can expect the first Merced
machines shipped in 1999 will be running version 5.0 or 6.0 of NT, and
Linux 3.0 or 4.0 for Merced will be available about 3 years later, when
it will not be considered a strategic menace anymore.
:(
Andrew