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IBM Calls Linux "Logical Successor" To AIX
pknoll writes "Though it probably won't happen soon, IBM is talking about Linux eventually replacing AIX. The article at Globe Technology states there are IBM folks working on 'chips for 2007' systems, and the viewpoint projected is described as 'multidecade,' but it's an interesting view into the future of IBM and Linux."
'cause AIX is actually pretty damn good. It may not have the rampant 'coolness' of Linux with all its little gadgets and what not, but it's a rock solid stable system with many advanced 'enterprise level' features.
In most of the ways that matter, AIX is well ahead of Linux. Seriously, Linux has some catching up to do if it to replace AIX.
10 years ago... people would ask
5 years ago
2-3 years ago
NOW :- We want to use linux, to reduce our IT budget cost . Also we are fed up with the security issues with M$ products and the licnesing costs are killing us. Plus we have heard that linux is an excellent replacement for legacy *inxs.
Although IBM may not have contributed directly to kernel code, they are doing a lot to improve LINUX's image in the mindset of MANAGERS of IT Project,
As they say, Win the MANAGER and the staff will follow.
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
I'm going to try not to make this sound like a troll... but it's hard to be politically correct while looking a decade down the road....
Like IBM, SGI is also kinda-sorta planning on moving entirely to Linux in time. This makes me wonder what the long-term path is...
Once upon a time IBM and SGI were working with oldschool AT&T SysV Unix and BSD Unix, after years of tweaks, overhauls, and rewrites, each company ended up with their own distinct version of Unix. Obviously this won't happen immediately with Linux, but I would venture to guess that there will be significant forking over time. Right now SGI is using a slightly modified version of Red Hat 7.2 on their Altix machines (basicly Red Hat plus the patches from their "ProPack" overlay). As time goes on I would almost bet that the long term goals of IBM, SGI and others will not match up to those of RedHat and other distro builders. I have a feeling that, oh, maybe 10 years down the road each major big iron builder (IBM, HP, maybe SGI and Sun) will have their own distinct (and somewhat "weird") version of Linux.... and soon the term "Linux" will be as generic as "Unix".
This makes me wonder.... why bother with the Make-Work of moving to Linux in the first place? Why no keep working on the existing tuned kernels of AIX, IRIX, Tru64, etc?
I work for a small company in Austin TX that ports software. We like to brag that we can port anything to anything, but in reality, all the work that I seem to be doing is porting from either Solaris or HP-UX to Linux. AIX takes a very close second to the targets that we are porting to. Of course, this is very biased, since we're an IBM business partner. :-) I'm sure there's ports going on somewhere to Solaris and HP-UX.
In all of the arrangements that I've been involved with IBM on, their people have been completely indifferent about porting to Linux in preference to AIX. They simply don't seem to care what the hardware is running, as long as the customer is buying shiny new IBM boxes.
Something interesting though - IBM's Visual Age for C++ compiler was a pain in the ass to figure out. There's a zillion command line switches, and getting the right ones set to build proper dynamic libraries took a bit of figuring out. gcc was much nicer in that regard. But, now that I've got them figured out, I really like IBM's compiler more than gcc 2.95. I haven't had the luck of using gcc 3.2.1 yet (third party libraries aren't typically built with it yet, and I use Debian at home) but I can't wait. That new gcc compiler will really be sweet.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
I've never thought that there was any mystery in IBM's interest in Linux. Their product line has no common OS. Linux turns the MVS, CMS, OS/400, AIX, Windows, etc., etc. etc., muddle of completely different operating systems for every flavor of hardware into something intelligible: We run linux top to bottom!!!
i le/368660.stm
It has added bonuses too:
It weakens Microsoft's operating systems monopoly
It gives IBM another crack at selling their apps on hardware MS would own if it ran Widows
It might even be payback for making IBM pay significantly higher royalties for Win95 than other large customers (as payback for OS/2 & Lotus Smartsuite). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_f
Gives IBM a chance to sell system integration services and service contracts.
Provides programmers world-wide to contribute to IBM's success
Gives IBM a story that sounds similar to Sun's:
Sun: Complete binary compatibility from Desktop to Midframe.
IBM: You can run linux top to bottom
No, I don't think that there is any surprise in this at all.
Not now. The Linux kernel, while improving, does not have the enterprise features needed by those who use AIX. That said, I do believe Linux can replace the AIX kernel. If and when it does, you still have to possibly port some of those tools. For example, AIX has some great commands (not just smit) that are very nice. Ones that come to mind are lsdev, lsfs, lsvg, lspv, the odm itself(not as bad as you think), lsattr and many others. Smit is a lifesaver when you just can't remember the commands to do a certain thing. Also, AIX's ability to expand filesystems on the fly, the LVM, HACMP, SP and other things are essential for AIX shops. The pSeries machines (otherwise known as RS/6000) are IBM's best selling servers. The Regatta (p690) is doing extremely well. Almost everyone I have come across who runs AIX (except us....we're cheap, er poor bastards!) has a p690. Also the Shark (Enterprise Storage System) is tremendous. In 2 racks you get redundant storage. One rack can die and the other takes over. Each side has it's own battery backup, plus there's 348 MB of Non Volitle storage. Also you can have 22 TB of SSA in that rack! All of that works because of the fine work IBM has done on AIX. Linux can replace it, but it will be a while! :)
Gorkman
Actually you got it backwards, Multics was extremely multiuser, was the reasoning behind the name. UNIX started out as largely a singleuser simplification of Multics (which was a very complex system), first named UNICS, which makes the pun much simpler to understand. The name was changed to UNIX when multiuser support was added.
Multics is really to operating systems what Algol was to programming languages, the huge research project where they found a lot of the do's and dont's in operating system design. A great system all in all, a bit too ahead of its time though.
See http://www.wagoneers.com/UNIX/City-U/Multics/ for more information.
"Plus we have heard that linux is an excellent replacement for legacy *inxs."
I dunno, I think the first couple of INXS albums rock harder than any Linux distribution ever could.
It is not that the Linux you know now is going to replace AIX. The point is that IBM will invest to bring Linux up to the level of AIX over the years, and when Linux is as good as AIX at what AIX is good at, you will get a product like AIX but with the "coolness" of Linux.
IBM is merely reinforcing their already rock solid commitment.
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!