"Halo" film to be built on Linux

First there were the Mac-powered Xbox 360 demo boxes. Now Microsoft's got another reason to wonder whether everyone got the memo: the special effects in the movie version of "Halo," the popular Xbox game, are going to be created on Linux boxes. Weta Digital, director Peter Jackson's post-production firm, runs over 1,000 IBM blade servers powered by Fedora, and has used the boxes to create effects for "Lord of the Rings" and the forthcoming "King Kong." Microsoft is getting $5 million upfront for the rights to "Halo," plus a back-end based on revenues. If ticket sales for "Halo" come anywhere near the record numbers for Jackson's "Lord of the Rings," the company will still have the last laugh, regardless of the OS behind the film.