IBM has made their "Billion dollar Investment" back several times.
By providing really good support for Linux, customers concerned about scalability
have been able to upgrade to Z Series servers. By providing DB2, Websphere, and
Tivoli for Linux, customers who are concerned about commercial grade transaction
processing capabilities have been able to use these applications where the
application is really mission critical.
At the same time, Linux provides benefits which aren't available on either Windows
or most UNIX variants. Rather than putting massive systems on every CPU, customers
can leverage the Open Source technology for the more "informational" aspects of an
application, then jump to mainframe mentality software (can't lose the transaction,
two-phase commit, load balancing across multiple servers, virtualization...) for
things like processing orders.
Ironically, from the Press Releases, it appears like IBM is going after Solaris
with Linux, while Sun is going after NT servers with Linux.
The best thing about Linux is that you can do development, unit testing, and even
system integration testing on laptops or desktop machines, then move the code
directly to E-Servers for End-to-End testing, System Stress testing, Pilot, and
Production systems.
Virtualization of servers makes it possible to create all of those low-stress
servers without having to dedicate entire machines exclusively to a single
project's development.
This ability to code on the laptop, while you're flying to an engagement on the
plane, or while commuting on the train, is one of the reasons that Linux on the
desktop has become such a hot issue. When the Dell speaker referenced WalMart as a
model of innovation, a member of the audience asked why they had to go to WalMart
instead of Dell to get a desktop or laptop preconfigured with Linux. Of course,
the same question could also be asked of IBM, HP, and the other PC vendors who are
now touting their Linux server capabilities.
IBM and Dell have been trying to make sure that their desktops and laptops work
with Linux, but leave it up to the end-user to do the install. Linux users are
supposed to twiddle their thumbs while they could be productive, or spend their
time trying to "remember" details required to document processes and progress of
Linux coding.
Of course, with Linux, they don't necessarily have to fly to the server anyway.
They can use real-time messaging such as local jabber sessions (or Lotus Sametime
:-)) to communicate, and can share servers with other developers without having to
"wait for the console", since even the GUI applications can be run on a Linux
desktop.
As a bonus, by having Linux on the desktops, especially in company office building,
they could be added to IBM's e-business on demand Linux Grids. While your boss is
writing a memo on StarOffice (doesn't need 2 Ghz CPU, uses less than 10%), the
company can use his machine in the cluster to help do forcasting, modelling, or
even tracking the company financials to the nearest penny and accurate to the
nearest minute.
> NEW YORK -- Even now, Steve Mills fields incredulous
> questions about how his company and other vendors make
> money working with freely available open-source
> technologies like Linux, the IBM software head said Thursday.
> In a Thursday morning LinuxWorld keynote address
> primarily devoted to a run-down of some notable IBM
> customer deployments of Linux, Mills affirmed that
> Linux is a large and growing revenue generator for
> IBM. IBM estimates that industry-wide Linux
> expenditures will grow at an average annual rate of 35
> percent through 2006.
> For the full story:
> http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/03/01/23/030123hnibmlinux.xm...
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