IBM Puts $100M Behind Linux Push

IainMH writes "Over at the BBC, there is a report that despite the slow build up, IBM is spending $100m (£52m) over the next three years beefing up its commitment to Linux software. It continues: 'The cash injection will be used to help its customers use Linux on every type of device from handheld computers and phones right up to powerful servers.'" Commentary and coverage also available on TechNewsWorld and ZDNet.

Comments

Re:Cough Cough

[Jeremy Erwin]

The "G4" or PPC 7xxx chips are made by "Freescale Semiconductor". IBM makes the "G3" (PPC 7x0) (which isn't used by Apple anymore), the "G5" (PPC 9x0), and the POWERx chips.

IBM supports Notes on WINE

[swillden]

I have the an older version R5 running under wine but wasn't able to install 6.5.1

I'm running 6.5.2 under WINE; works just fine.

Also, until IBM releases a native Linux client, Notes will continue running under WINE. The development team actually tests on WINE and if Notes doesn't run, they track down why and fix it in Notes.

Actually porting Notes to Linux will take a while; in the meantime, IBM makes sure that it runs on Linux via WINE.

(Note: I work for IBM, but I don't speak for IBM, or have any connection to the Notes teams.)

Re:IBM supports Notes on WINE

[metamatic]

Actually porting Notes to Linux will take a while

Actually porting Notes to Linux ain't gonna happen. The legacy codebase is such that it would be prohibitively expensive, or so I was told (as a member of the public) by a product manager a few years back.

What's happening instead is that IBM Lotus Workplace products, the next-generation collaboration products, are getting Domino compatibility and the functionality of the Notes client. The Workplace "rich client" products are built on Eclipse and work natively on Linux (and presumably OS X too).