NYTimes on IBM and Linux

Quite a number of people have written in about today's business section headline in the New York Times: IBM Goes Counterculture with Linux . Beyond just a good title, it delves into the increasing pairing of IBM and Linux as well as some of the history behind it. The article also talks about the commitment from the top levels in IBM - from Louis Gerstner down. The other interesting aspect is IBM's recognition that Linux is a way for them to regain some of the ground that they have lost to Sun and Microsoft.

Comments

Makes hardware sense

[Proteus]

IBM may have quite a lot of very nice software, but thier big business is in the hardware. After all, they have to compete with the likes of Sun and Microsoft, just like the article says.

This plays into a perfect little niche with Linux. Linux is on the upswing: more and more PHB's and admins alike are finding useful places for Linux, and as the corporate networks grow and spill over onto the Internet this trend will continue.

IBM has seen that supporting an OS on the upswing gets them more media and a speedy gain in hardware sales. They also realize that, as one of the more expensive hardware vendors, they can increase the value (real and percieved) of, say, a server by reducing the initial OS cost to zero (or close to it).

Do the math: if Compaq's hardware for a similar spec is $4000, and IBM's is $4600, IBM can point out that by offering pre-installed Linux at no additional charge, there is no need for the $2000 extra for NT server and approprate CAL's. Whammo. Suddenly, hardware that was more expensive looks cheaper.

Let's just hope they stick to Linux, and don't jump on the next wave of hype, abandoning thier Linux clients...

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Essential strategic component not mentioned

[mikemcc]

While I enjoyed the article, I found it interesting that it did not touch on another component of IBM's long term strategy - Java.

Here's a question to the Slashdot readership:
Does IBM's Linux strategy represent a compliment to its Java strategy, a refinement, or a replacement? One could make a case for either.

Compliment:
IBM is aggressively and successfully pursuing Java application development across its product lines, and this standardization of languages, libraries, and tools actually makes it easier for the company to adopt Linux, where it might not have been a practical option if IBM had not already adopted Java.

Refinement:
IBM is having problems deploying Java applications across all of its product lines, so spreading Linux across all the hardware reduces the overhead and complexity of the Java efforts.

Replacement:
IBM has decided that Java is not going to live up to its potential as a feature-rich lowest common denominator development environment. Linux, with less onerous licensing terms permitting more technical and creative freedom, is to take the place of Java in IBM's strategy - Linux will be the lowest common denominator, rather than Java.

Comments, suggestions, refutations?

IBM developerWorks

[tdrury]

One only needs to visit IBM's developerWorks occassionally to see their interest in Linux, Java, XML, etc. Their Linux page is here.

-tim

It costs money

[Greyfox]

You're thinking the price of the OS, right?

Truth is any OS costs the company that maintains it money. It costs money to support and it costs money to maintain. A lot of money.

So suddenly an operating system appears out of nowhere that runs on the hardware and doesn't cost the company anything to maintain or support. Damn that's a pretty nice deal. And it runs on ALL the hardware the company has. That's a REALLY nice deal. And it's an OS that a lot of people are familar with. Someone high up most have sold their soul for a deal that good.

You really want to know why?

[Greyfox]

It's becauase no one around here knows anything about it anymore. The MWave group apparently didn't document or spec out anything they did and they're all gone now. To document or release drivers for that thing, we'd have to reverse engineer it almost as much as the open source community would. And our marketing guys have come up with the idea of trying to convince everyone that Mwave was just a mass hallucination anyway (MCI went over to Compaq hardware largely because IBM hardware, specifically MWave, never worked worth a damn.)

Tech Generation Gap

[Scooter[AMMO]]

A lot of people are going to say "We don't want corporations polluting Linux".

A few more are going to say "Most corporations publically support Linux for the lip service and popularity factor".

And some more will say "Most Linux-friendly corporations haven't delivered on promises".

IBM is a good example of a rather old-school tech company that sees promise in the direction of the youngster of Linux, and wants to help where it can.

But take note, even heavyweights like IBM can't make the scene change overnight, and we should make sure that they know the community support their inititives, and that we are patient.

The intermingling of IBM in the open source/Linux movement is, in my opinion, proof that Linux isn't a fad, and has real potential. At least to a number of PHB's that sometimes lack an open mind. The direction of the entire company has changed from a PC maker, to mostly that of a consulting firm. Isn't it flattering that Linux plays a big part in that $80B/year puzzle?

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Industrial Strength

[348]

They get it. Nice to see. As big blue ports to Linux, they will get a strong foothold in the markets they used to dominate in the 70's. A little forethought and a pirate flag mentality have begun to change the company. It's good to see that they view M$ and Sun as the targets to take marketshare away from and not, as in the old days a strategic partner in which they could join forces and split the difference. This new competition will be good for the consumer in the long run, more compatible systems, more choice and lower costs. I do hope they give the effort the right long term focus and do a better job overall than they did with WARP. This was left to a lesser team of engineers and poor PM that eventually killed it's mainstream appeal.

IBM's betting the farm on the future of Linux and Open Source ideals taking off. Big Risk. Linux as fully mainstream does have a long way to go, but with big guns like IBM making so much noise, it allows Linux and similar efforts to ride on the PR coattails. They're even porting things in house and ditching AIX, It's good to see real commitment and not just a fly by token "Yeah we support Linux also". I beleive they really get it and see the industial strength value.