SGI vs Regular Linux

[Cdee007]

Hi Everyone I"m new here I've been using a few unix based systems off and on for sometime now but I can't say that I'm an expert or even a novice at it. I have a few questions that I hope a few of you can spare the time to answer.

First of all I have a SGI IRIX 6.5 what's the difference between that and regular linux?

Second how do unlock the power of this machine I've heard such great things about it like it's suppose to be such a great graphics program. I mean even most of the graphics from the movie X-men was done on an SGI. How do I start learning about how to do all of that stuff.

Third I've inherited this machine from a co worker that is not longer with us. He has set up a webserver on here that lets people log on to check email and upload stuff on to the server to for a website. How do I find out what webserver I'm running and how do I change a user's login name without screwing anything? Sorry if this is a lot of questions for a newbe but I really want to learn everything I can about this thing.

[Beowulf_Ghost]

I take a stab at a few of your question.

Irix vs Linux;
They are both Unix's, so from a users stand-point they will both behave the same. From an admin stand point they can be night and day. If I remember right, Irix is an SysV based system, so it should be laid out like most Linux's.

Software;
This is were the differences between Linux and Irix show up. Software that is compiled for Irix won't work in Linux, and visa-versa. Things writen to work with Irix's windowing system, won't work with Linux's windowing systems.
I'm not sure where you can get Irix software, maybe check www.sgi.com (http://www.sgi.com) or something.