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IBM's New Linux Advertising
Amit Shah writes "IBM is airing a commercial featuring Linux as reported on Economic Times. This could be the first major way to reach out to normal users and explain the benefits of open source and Linux. The ad says, "Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community""
In case the site is slow, here is a mirror.
Martin Studio Slashdot Policy
Where's Tux?! Bah! It's not Linux without the penguin...
In Soviet Russia, the television watches YOU!
That's the future. This is a great move by IBM, just to get the mindset to the masses. Eventually we'll get beyond copyright and patent, but this is a start--even if it's by a huge corporation.
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
What about their 'Peace, love, Linux' hippy campaign they ran a while back.
Share the love...
Someone gets it, or is doing a good job of pretending to, anyway.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
IBM ran a good commercial a while back where some cops were walking around a vacant server room while a PHB-type was explaining that all the servers had been stolen. Then the IT guy walks in and says, that they were not stolen but replaced with one linux server. The best part was as the commercial closed, one detective looks at the other and says: "What's a server?" - Classic :)
/me thinks IBM should also explain in the ad weather or not it will be compatible with all the built in cup holders that come with computers nowadays.
Last 12 frames of the ad, bottom left "Linux is (C) SCO and used without permission."
naw, I made that up.
Trolling is a art,
"Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Linux may contain intellectual property of SCO. Linux users may be liable for intellectual property infractions. Linux is not to be taken internally. If you have side effects after installing Linux, such as dryness of mouth or shortness of breath, discontinue use and consult a physician. Linux is not for all users. Not all Linux companies go up in value; some go down."
You mean I can make a phone call . . . from my car?!
For my money, I don't know if it gets any better than the IBM Linux ads that Avery Brooks did... particularly memorable was the ad that went something like "In the early ninties, a Finnish college student named Linus Torvalds develops a new operating system, and then he does something remarkable - he gives it away."
That and "Where the flying cars? I was promised flying cars!"
"Adventure? Excitement? A Jedi craves not these things."
Letting other people collect the data, and then saying it's yours and suing everyone that has it without your permission, is the road to profitability.
He's nine years old, bright-eyed and hungry to learn. Meet Linux, or a human embodiment of the computer operating system, in a new television commercial by IBM.
Meet SCO, Linux's molester-uncle.
He's nine years old, bright-eyed and hungry to learn. Meet Linux, or a human embodiment of the computer operating system
I'm going to say it was a wise choice not to use Linus in the commercial.
But how can he type while carrying his security blanket?
Big Blue was the bad guy.
It feels kind of creepy to be cheering IBM on...
Go IBM!!!!
Big Brother Bush is doubleplus ungood.
A lot of people are already "aware" of Linux but they have no clue what it is. Just the other day one of my co-workers in a memo referred to a product that uses Linux and asked if we should "explore Linux Open-Source programming." She had no clue what Linux or Open Source is but she saw them written somewhere and thought they sounded intelligent in her memo.
I will save final judgement for when I see the commercial during football on Sunday but based on that article the commercial doesn't do that. I think most US Open and Football watchers are just going to either ignore it or already be gone flipping.
In the IBM commercial, a blond, blue-eyed boy sits mum as a stream of celebrities ply him with information on everything from plumbing to the mysteries of the universe.
I think the image of a little boy being approached and molested by a bunch of creepy strangers sums up the Linux community and ethos to a T.
But shouldn't it be GNU/Linux?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
In July, IBM reached a three-year sponsorship deal with the NFL.
They're going to advertise Linux during televised NFL games? Isn't that sort of like advertising beer during Oprah?
Just picture the two of them together, stoned out of their gourds, with a guy in a big penguin suit behind them.
I hope these commercials will address one simple question... Why would I need Linux? Most users (non-techies), probably don't need to learn how to use Linux because Windows provides them with everything they need. Maybe they are targeting large companies, in this campaign, and hopefully they will realize the benefits of using Linux in the business world. For regular users(non-techies), I just don't see the point of using Linux.
Until it becomes easier to use, more compatible with hardware and less nerdy, the majority of computer users will just not use it. Look at MAC's. People are reluctant to use MAC's because in their eyes, its something that they are not used to.
Its great that IBM is marketing Linux, I'd certainly love to see my family and friends use it, but they are totally shut off to the idea.
They are comfortable with using Windows because they just dont have the interest in the learning curve Linux presents.
100% Insightful
Perhaps it's just that I don't have cable (3 channels that I'd watch out of 60 doesn't justify $45/month) but this is the first I've heard of real Linux commercials. Things in print are fine, but everyone knows TV advertising is as kingly effective as it's always been in getting stuff to sell.
Any information on whether there have been mass Linux commercials before this? We may be witnessing the beginning of a new era of Linux advertising. Marketing, marketing, marketing--we make fun of the people that major in it, and even more fun of the people that work in it, but it's certainly one of the biggest factors that helped propel Microsoft to the very top of the software heap. With a someday-equivalent force of marketing behind it, could Linux perhaps finally obtain the financial and spiritual backing it needs?
The coolest voice ever.
The esteemed P.J. over at Groklaw had an interesting analogy related to this IBM campaign:
AntiFUD is an important part of this battle, which is why IBM is launching an advertising campaign about Linux. But legally they're like circling sharks. Not a sound. Just water rippling ever so slightly on the surface, a brief glimpse of a fin, as they slowly circle. Until it's time to lunge.
I'd like to add to it by saying that SCO is that loud mouthed kid who's splashing around in the water yelling obscenities and other unpleasantries at the sharks, almost daring them to attack.
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
...who later grew up and, upon reaching manhood, was promptly sued by the RIAA, MPAA and SCO for sharing data with the rest of the community.
Are you sure that's not: Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but re-theming your desktop a dozen times while your kernel compiles is the death of productivity."
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
Check this out
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
I want another round of IBM Advertising with Dennis Leary! Let him go wild on the topic of the SCO lawsuit! Nothing like Leary's special brand of scorn to set the stage for the legal proceedings!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
The ad closes with the slogan "Linux. The Future is Open. IBM."
My jaw is wide open.
Ok, IBM wants to capitalize on Linux, IBM is a company, in the past IBM has been a corrupt monopoly trying to stranglehold their clients with the proprietary ties after fscking them in the first place.
But the memes passed by this particular advertisement are something radically different than those teached by conventional advertisements and pro-capitalist ethos (consume! consume! don't think about tomorrow! spend now!).
Really, this stuff is jaw-dropping. ;D)
It's not like the cluetrain stopping in front of IBM (now we only need an express train passing in Darl McBride's office like that Athlon vs Pentium III commercial), but it's like someone saying that the time is mature for an economy based on Free Software to be born and TRY to impose herself on a wide-open scale.
Not Eazel Gnome Nautilus and crap like that, not the dotcomboom of 121 different Linux distros, but a wide world collaborating on making better, documented, free, opensource and secure systems with minor tweakings among them just to make sure that they suit individual needs. (2414 different Gnu/Linux distros!!!
Hell, also Microsoft is committed to a large-scale opensource initiative.
And I also think that this particular advertisement is what we waited in order to say that GNU and Linux have won.
+ + + + :D (ok, that was a joke)
BSD, on the other hand, is dead...
"I am slashbot, hear me roar!"
"Makes life simpler". Right.
This is valid point; in fact, it's actually oozing validity. If Linux is going to be presented in mass advertising as a device for simplification, it had better damn well live up to that description.
Like as not, many people already consider things plenty simple with Windows, especially XP and Server 2003. If Linux is going to simplify that, there must be some readily demonstrable ways in which it does so. Disillusionment is typically quick to take hold in folks, and once it's settled, it's monolithic to overcome.
The coolest voice ever.
I appreciate what IBM is doing. The average computer user seems to think that Microsoft is all there is, when it come to an OS.
The general public needs to be informed that there ARE choice. Imagine if Microsoft were to actually start feeling the sting of lost sales. They might: Lower prices, improve customer service, and wow... focus on stablizing their software!
Urantian -- and proud of it!
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community.
;). Doesn't foregive IBM from coming up with a slogan that muddys the already murky question of "What is up with the GNU community?"
Nice slogan. Makes me want to put my hand over my heart and stare knowingly toward the horizon.
What's it got to do with Linux though? Data sharing seems to have more to do with databases and web services, neither of which are explicitly Linux oriented traits. It seems to me it's not data, but functionality that's shared in the Linux community.
It's something like this: we both need to build a house. I'm going to need a ladder and a saw, you're going to need a ladder and a saw. If you build the ladder, and share it with me, I'll build the saw and share it with you. It doesn't mean we're going to tell each other what's inside the house, what's going on with the house, etc. No data is shared, just the tools for organizing and arranging it. Sharing the TOOLS makes a community. Sharing data makes, I dunno, an RIAA lawsuit?
I know, I know. The slogan is meant to strike at executives who make snap decisions and watch golf on the weekends. After all, they're the only ones not using OSS already
Hey freaks: now you're ju
So IBM has entered into a sponsorship deal with the NFL... lessee what the League's webservers are running:
yep, NFL.com runs Linux.
This page featuring the ad offers it in Windows MediaPlayer format. Is there anyone out there with an MPEG copy?
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This could be the first major way to reach out to normal users and explain the benefits of open source and Linux
This is a very tough sell, IMO. I'll also add that lumping the two together--"open source" and "Linux"--maybe isn't a good idea.
With perfect honesty, as someone who has used and programmed various OSes and hardware, the differences between Linux and Windows are few. Both are hugely complex from the user's point of view, and both are arguably incomprehensible on the source level. (Remember, you can't just talk about the Linux kernel, but the entire package including XFree86, drivers, the window manager, KDE, etc.) So it's not like either one is a clear winner in terms of ease-of-use or architectural cleanliness. It used to be that Linux was more stable, but with Windows 2000 that's no longer true. UNIX-alikes are generally more virus resistant than Windows, but that's a tough reason to insist that someone change all of his or her work habits and software. Remember, too, that patches for the recent Windows virii were available before infections started. Proper system administration (sadly!) plays a big role in security.
On the "open source" angle, I think that too much of an association with Linux is hurting the term. The Linux kernel is open source, yes, but we need to stop acting like you have to have one in order to have the other. There is a lot of open source software for Windows, for example. The "Chandler" email program, which is attempting to replace Outlook and Exchange, is going to run under Windows. Heck, Emacs and gcc both run under Windows. So do all of the GNU utilities. And Perl. And Python. And Tk.
As much as we all like to think we have the inside track on the superior OS--and, indeed, it may still be slightly superior--it's a case of it not being so far and away superior that it's clearly so.
" This is a great move by IBM, just to get the mindset to the masses."
It ain't that great. The ad doesn't even say what Linux is.
Call me cynical but an 'ad' that doesn't tell you what it's advertising isn't an ad. The people who already know about Linux are the only ones who are going to get anything from it.
(Note: I'd agree with your point if simply the commercial was better at getting the idea across.)
Well, not really commercials, but some weird lil cartoons. Enjoy.
i nd ex.html?c=eserver&n=linuxfun_callout_servershome&t =advertise#
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/linux/fun/
-- taking over the world, we are.
that the harvard prof who says "collecting data .." is called GATES!
.... can you really envision somebody who's uninformed about Linux watching this commercial and making anything of it?
Me personally, I'd have at least mentioned that it's free or that it isn't held by a single corporation. This commercial looks more like the sequel to A.I. or D.A.R.Y.L..
"Derp de derp."
Everyone in the IT community has heard of Linux, but most people know it as a community effort. The commercial is targeted at corporate buyers, and seeks to enhance Linux's image by associating the operating system with a well-known, respected company (IBM).
This isn't the 1950s. Big businesses use commercials nowadays to build brands, not sell products. Consider the most well-known commercials, like Apple's "1984" ad and Coca-Cola's "Mean Joe Green" spot from the '70s. Memorable campaigns don't drill product data into your head.
For more information, click here.
Actually, this is a very smart way to do it. I've seen a lot of 'series' adverts do it.
This advert is just the 'seeder'. It lays the foundation on which the other adverts with more information are going to rely on.
No one can explain the entire 'linux' thing in 30 seconds, however, a series of 30 second adverts, with a new one each successive month - all of a sudden every person and their pet turns into an 'expert.
Regards.
1. no linux msblaster worms
Any competent sysadmin already had their systems patched against that one.
2. no linux visual basic for applications cracks
When was the last new threat that was directly a result of Visual Basic scripting? By "new" I mean within the last three months or so.
4. no linux DRM media players
Who says you have to use WMP if you use Windows?
8. no having to hunt down 50 cds when trying to rebuild a machine
Gross exaggeration, obviously. And like in #1, any competent sysadmin should always know where their original discs are.
The coolest voice ever.
mpege mand/aug03/prodigy90_med.mpg
e mand/aug03/prodigy90_med.mov
http://rxns-rbn-sea05.rbn.com/ibmpdc/pdc/open/qtd
qt
http://rxns-rbn-sea05.rbn.com/ibmpdc/pdc/open/qtd
Well, it might at least make inroads toward legitimizing Linux in the eyes of PHBs who've heard of it, but just don't trust it.
-monique
You can go straight to IBM's site and download Real Media (high | low), QuickTime (high | low), or MPEG (high | low) versions of it.
And of course, if you use MPlayer, you can watch the movie from the Windows Media stream simply with:
mplayer mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/ibm-linux-p rodigy.asf
Enjoy.
Side note: does anyone else get the impression of Nazi era propaganda in this? It's an awesome ad, but come on: a blond-haired, blue-eyed kid? Why would such a child be the pinnacle of humanity? Just a thought, please don't moderate me for it.
Join Tor today!
Quicktime Version 1.6 mb
MPEG version 8.7 mb
With perfect honesty, as someone who has used and programmed various OSes and hardware, the differences between Linux and Windows are few. Both are hugely complex from the user's point of view, and both are arguably incomprehensible on the source level. (Remember, you can't just talk about the Linux kernel, but the entire package including XFree86, drivers, the window manager, KDE, etc.) So it's not like either one is a clear winner in terms of ease-of-use or architectural cleanliness. It used to be that Linux was more stable, but with Windows 2000 that's no longer true.
Well, my system uptimes tell a different story. But you don't have to trust my figures - take a look at Netcraft uptimes. These aren't the highest uptimes of all - almost without exception, the best uptimes are held by BSD derivatives (around 5 years). For the most popular sites, Linux tends to knock in around 100+ days. Windows 2000 knocks around in the high-20's, low 30's.
Have a nice day.
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
This is a good idea to preced desctop migration shove. First they have to get the name in front of Joe Sixpack-per-game, then they can start teaching what it can do for Joe, his wife, the kids and the granny.
It's just a beta! The real text (voiceover) is as follows:
If Linux were a penguin, it would be growing, fast. Taught by the best. Gaining wisdom between its ears. And sharing. It would be in business, education, government and homes. It would be a nine-year-old penguin chasing the world. So be afraid. Be very afraid.
The video will be showing the little kid getting slapped around the head by a 2 meter tall penguin.
I understand your hard edge, but after you let out a couple of long breaths I bet you can figure out how your wrong.
IBM is most likely in this for themselves, granted. But this paradigm shift is in the software license (something we belabor so much I can see why you'd want to leave it out). This is an important difference, because for once and big company can take advantage of something like this while they are giving something back.
So lay off with the stupid college kids comments and keep your eyes open. These stupid kids will have professionally written software supported in part by one of the biggest corporations in the world, which isn't all bad.
Quack, quack.
I'd rather see the idea that other poster mentioned (show a bunch of geeks with glee in their eyes, each in a different country, and state "They are working on your future; for free. Linux: the future is open.") be implemented, that would give the right message. One of the geeks should be Linus himself, others could be e.g. Andrew Trigell, Brian Behlendorf, etc. and the names could be printed onscreen, to introduce each of them.
Software is not supposed to be about how to work around a useability issue. - Ken Barber
no linux msblaster worms
no linux visual basic for applications cracks
no trains, planes or automobiles stopped by linux viruses, worms or trojans
no linux DRM media players
no linux license fees
no linux authorization codes when you change hardware
no forced upgrade cycle
no having to hunt down 50 cds when trying to rebuild a machine
Fine. Get the masses to understand, and, more importantly, care about all that and then there's a shot.
The coolest voice ever.
Which in this context I believe means:
Thing belonging to the common public, no one person may rule over it.
-- You can be a geeklord too
I found a copy of "The Heist" but all of the other (I'm told great) IBM/Linux ads don't seem to be available. Anyone know where MPEGs of them can be obtained?
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
High quality version here. And there is also a text-only version of the script here.
Articulos para gente geek: Poleras, linux, libros y mas
I'd like to hear stories from anyone concerning linux use within IBM. The contractors who are working with me (large credit card company producing banking software) were moaning to me the other day that even though IBM is gung-ho about linux they are still primarily a windows shop (e.g. sales people and even developers [those not doing linux development at least]) are all on windows or aix boxes and not linux. His words (somewhat paraphrased) were "Linux... good enough for our customers, but not us..."
Does anyone have info to the contrary? I love free software and linux (although I'd jump ship the second something "cooler" comes along :) and I appreciate IBMs current posturing, I'm just a little worried by the above sentiments.
The nice thing about the commercial is that it's advertising an ideology. It's going to be hard for Microsoft to come back with something that says. "Sharing information is bad. Building community is wrong." Unlike they did with their We Have the Way Out campaign which was mostly aimed at Sun, what with the purple paint and all. In the end, it's advantageous to IBM as well: use Linux, promote open exchange of information, make our lives and yours a hell of a lot easier in the end. I'd say that IBM has pulled a good trick out of the old hat this time.
Only a fool would be short-sighted enough to not to see the danger of using (supporting) Microsoft protocols, especially over the Internet.
.Net and DRM protocols.
In the Halloween Document, a Microsoft strategist wrote:
> OSS projects have been able to gain a foothold in many server applications because of the wide utility of highly commoditized, simple protocols. By extending these protocols and developing new protocols, we can deny OSS projects entry into the market.
Or consider this evidence in the Java case:
> Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Paul Maritz, outlined Microsoft's strategy to win the browser war with Netscape and simultaneously "neutralize Java" by "tying" the "user interface" and "APIs" "back to Windows,"
This quote also shows us how Microsoft operates:
> at this point its [sic] not good to create MORE noise around our win32 java classes. Instead we should just quietly grow j++ share and assume that people will take advantage of our classes without ever realizing they are building win32-only java apps."
And then there's this little gem:
> "Subversion has always been our best tactic," John Ludwig, Microsoft's vice president in charge of Java development, wrote. "It leaves the competition confused, and they don't know what to shoot at anymore."
Perhaps this quote sums it up the best:
> "This is really the core of Microsoft's business," Gartner Research Director Chris LeTocq said. "Microsoft is in business to leverage APIs. That's a key element of the successful market share it has."
If you haven't understood the point, then here it is...
If you continue to accept the ASF format, then you are encouraging websites to use it.
But it's still a protocol that is controlled by Microsoft.
In the future, Microsoft will:
1. Upgrade ASF to an incompatible format.
2. Start enforcing their ownership of ASF by restricting its use to Microsoft platforms (as GIFs started to be enforced).
3. Lock up ASF using Microsoft
And the websites that are using ASF will go along blindly. Why? Because no one has been complaining to them about their use of ASF, so they have no reason to avoid Microsoft's "improvements."
And at that point, the content of those websites will become unavailable to you unless you are running Windows XP.
It really annoys me when people fail to protect themselves, and everyone else, because they are too lazy or short-sighted to put up with a little temporary inconvenience. Are you hoping that someone else will do the work of protecting your freedom? Well, don't.
It's up to you. If you want the Internet to remain free, then stop supporting Microsoft protocols.
Any OS should be administered by a competent system admin who patches and/or disables services as necessary to avoid exploitation.
Riiight! Like that's ever going to happen.
When most people buy a computer, they are buying an appliance. They couldn't care less about administering it. It should just "work". Plug in the power, plug in the internet, and away we go. So, until we have machines that are self adminning out of the box, we are going to have problems.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
You have to love convenient ommisions by the marketing folks. IBM point out that Sun has it's own Unix O/S implying "proprietry bad", omitting Sun's linux offerring. They also omit the mention of their own proprietry Unix offering.
;)
Then again, depending on who you believe, they're not allowed to Sell AIX any more
Tp.
The need to reach a diverse audience is growing, as studies show that technology buying is more frequently decided by business managers rather than technical specialists.
Correct. Which is also why the PHBs frown on use of Open Source in general, even when the company's directors have decided to go in an Open Source direction, unfortunately.
The PHBs can more effectively control the technical specialists when every time the technical specialist turns around to solve a simple problem or do something new, it requires purchasing something .
Purchasing something, in turn, requires providing lenghly explanations to these weasels in middle IT management who have never written a line of code in their lives, but who desperately need to keep justifying their existence by throwing around new buzzwords in *their* management meetings. Take away their purchasing power by using Open Source, and the poor dears will flounder -- and founder.
Also, the way these PHB's get to feel important, is by the sheer number of staff and dollars in their command. Fewer dollars for software that can be supported by fewer people, means the PHB is less important--in both his own eyes, and in the eyes of his peers -- other PHB's.
If the techo can be the hero just on the basis of having acquired, modified, fully tested and deployed something before PHB even gets wind of it, good-bye PHB.
Open Source threatens to take away a whole layer of IT "management" which, in the interest of the company's productivity and profitability is a GOOD thing. But not in the interests of the smarmy layer of IT "management" that is so clearly undermined by the Open Source process.
So IBM has to market to company directors and senior management, because their interest is in the company's productivity and profitability.
Perhaps IBM needs to air a commercial which features a lowly techo and a company director violently agreeing on an Open Source deployment that has saved the company millions, with a PHB middle management drone making increasingly weak arguments against it, while the PHB is taking back-handers and getting his latest round of meaningless buzzwords and lame, losing anti-linux rhetoric from some MicroSlut PR drone.
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
It will portray a 28 year old thug called "Microsoft" harassing people in the street, trying to sell them crap for a quick fix.
Unfortunately, in the end an angry mob beats him into a bloody pulp.
It ain't that great. The ad doesn't even say what Linux is.
That's the beauty of it - they managed to make an ad that the average PHB can understand.
or is it ironic that a linux ad is in windows media format?
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
The mpeg got my sister in law to ask me "What's Linux?". The commercial got her *asking questions*, and that's exactly what IBM wants. If I wasn't here to answer, she would've googled it - she wanted to find out more. But since I was here, I introduced her to Knoppix. What comes of it, I don't know. But it's a Very Good Thing.
And anyway, I find THE BEST ADS, the ones people remember, are either surreal or funny.
I like this ad. It works for me.
realized that Linux has the biggest development staff on the planet, even bigger than IBM. Someone there said, "let's drop AIX. Linux can replace our in-house OS in most areas. Our development costs go down. Support costs won't change. We'll eat the lunch of every major server player on the planet. We can join the OS community AND get a monopoly."
------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
Dude, one thing at a time. Surely it is obvious that there is value in a commercial that teases people to make them hungry to learn more. Anyone who already wants to understand Linux can already learn about it any time they want to. The key here is convincing people who would not otherwise pay any attention to listen and become curious enough to want to learn more.
Most people automatically stop paying attention once they find out that the subject at hand is something that don't consider within their realm of interest. I am quite certain that Linux is one of those things
I personally feel that this commercial will do a pretty effective job of getting people who may benefit from the use of Linux (and who could also potentially contribute to the OS community), but who would otherwise change the channel to keep watching, while asking, "What could this be about?"
--something witty
"Linux. The Future is Open. IBM."
should be
"GNU/Linux. The Future is Open. IBM."
They should've cut to a SCO representative strangling the little boy...
It was a wonderful commercial. I realized almost immediately that this commercial is not trying to sell Linux. I got the feeling that IBM already knows Linux is growing quickly and wants to advertise support. IBM wants people who have never heard of Linux to tie Linux and IBM together. If people think of IBM when they hear of Linux then they will remember where to go to get their copy and support. I believe this was a very good move for IBM. I also believe this is a very good ad for Linux.
Just ask any Lisp programmer.
I think it is clear that data is used in a broad sense, where it includes information, knowledge and skills, a lot of which is embedded in the Linux kernal.