What distros of Linux do these Studios use?

[2015]

Hi,

Just wanted to know which is the preffered distro of Linux amongst the big studios. I know ILM uses Red Hat and R&H uses Suse. Anyone know about :-

Digital Domain -
Double Negative -
Weta -
MPC -
Disney/Pixar -
Dreamworks -

-2015

[drakhain]

It doesn't really matter actually, there is no specific feature available in any distro that will make a linux system better than the other for cgi works. It's just that if you buy for example a flame system, it supported for a redhat distribution, if you look houdini they are under ubuntu... Choosing a linux system for working is just a matter of taste. Personnaly i like Opensuse because i like their administration tools and their application set. Debian package system is cool too, and so is unbuntu's. I like gentoo too because it's the most clean distro i know (well there is lfs ->linux from scratch too but it's really boring to compile etc but you learn sooo much)
When you work with maya or whatever inside a linux distribution it works the same as long as you've got graphic drivers and if an application is missing you can look for the sources and just recompile so it's quite flexible.
So choosing a linux distro depends on your need and how much you want to dive into your system and, sometimes, depends if the force is with you or not when you are confronted with missing links and libraries.

[beaker]

Companies use everything under the sun. RH Enterprise, Kubuntu, Ubuntu, Suse, Fedora, Debian, etc...

[nathan]

Sony Pictures Imageworks runs CentOS RHE 4.4. Coming to work after using the latest Ubuntu at home is like taking a time machine into the past.

Makes you realize how much Linux has changed over the years.

[2015]

Well, there must also be a cost factor about using the free distros. As per my knowledge Red Hat and Fedora are not free. Maybe the studios like the stability of linux and at the same time want support from the company engineers who can also look after the maintenance that comes with paid distros of linux.

[scrimski]

As per my knowledge Red Hat and Fedora are not free

Actually they are.
http://fedoraproject.org/

[beaker]

Well, there must also be a cost factor about using the free distros. As per my knowledge Red Hat and Fedora are not free.

It's mainly the support side of things that costs money. Red Hat Enterprise is between $80 and $300 and Suse is around $120. It all depends how much support you want: phone, web only, how fast of a response, etc... There are free versions of both(fedora and open suse).