IBM launches Linux Zone on DeveloperWorks

Marco Bertini was one of the many who's written to us about IBM opening up a Linux Zone in DeveloperWorks. It went live July 19, 10PM EST-and it looks like things have gone well for them. "

Comments

very professional linux site

[Anonymous Coward]

nice job, IBM.

I never would have believed I'd say that about them 10 years ago.

Not really.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your mindless nitpicking and complaining about article's like this is JUST the kind of thing he was talking about. I don't personally beleive it is the entire Linux community who is so juvenile, but certainly the /. subsect is.

SmartBeak!!!

[DrSpoo]

Wow, this is a great site, thanks for the link man. Sites like this make me all warm and fuzzy inside!

Cool - Now support Thinkpads

[mholve]

I'm very happy to hear that IBM is finding success in the Linux marketplace!

If you're reading this, IBM - please try to support Linux on the Thinkpads. I really want a Thinkpad 570... :)

Cheap Publicity

[Pedro Picasso]

Wow, IBM is sure some smart bastards. They know a Taco interview is going to buy their servers a stress-test from the /. effe--SERVER ERROR CORE DUMPED RETURNING STATUS TO SRVERR.LOG SYSTEM HALTED

Strange Article

[sdt]

Check out this article on the "history of Linux at IBM".

Interesting quotes:

"Every company that has played ball with Linux or any other piece of open software knows that the community is a moody one, and that a wrong move can produce at best the "Slashdot effect" (a brutal hail of attention and Web traffic prompted by a story in Slashdot, a popular forum and news source for the open-source community), and at worst a total disaster."
Do these guys actually have any idea what a 'slashdot effect' is? It's definitely not caused by moodiness.

""I was introduced to Linux even before universities," Valentine says with enthusiasm characteristic of much of the open-source community. "Leo told me about the program you could run on your computer that lets you see everything on the inside--every 1 and 0. It's like Legos for computer scientists.""
Huh? Lets you see everything inside? Hello! Linux is protected... perhaps he's referring to open source, but still, it sounds rather strange.

Ah well, I guess it's just the usual suity article. -- sdt

Pretty good Taco Interview

[DarkClown]

I like where the interviewer asks Malda what Microsoft has to look forward to in lieu of Linux and he says
"Well, they're going to have to work harder."
Right out of the elements of style. Anyway, pretty cool addidtion to the IBM developer site. Good to see them supporting linux.

I'm getting dizzy

[rde]

/. has a link to developerworks, which has an interview with Rob and a link to /. which has...

As an aside (more of a main point, really), there was a time not so long ago when we'd all leap for joy at the prospect of IBM putting up a site for this. It's no longer a cause for celebration; simply a handy site to bookmark and come back to on occasion.
Truly Linux has entered the computing mainstream.

How bored *are* you? (N/T)

[Stephen Williams]

N/T

I visited the site...

[Stephen Williams]

...and the first link there is to an interview with a certain Mr. Malda :-)

Yeah, great

[mrbnsn]

So when are we going to get the specs for the mwave DSP in the Thinkpads?

Not too bad

[PenguinDude]

I kinda like the site. I just had a chance to browse a few articles, namely the system calls one. I was kinda disapointed that nothing really went "in depth". Seems like this site is geared more for "newbies" than anything, but that could change, right?
Still, I get this weird feeling.....this is _IBM_, the evil empire that predated Microsoft. The one everyone was trying to "break free of" in the "old days". How times have changed, eh?

Re:Not too bad

[PenguinDude]

It looks like they are on the right road to recovery then. But man, something just doesn't _jive_ with this thing. I mean, doesn't it feel like they are exploiting Linux in an attempt to rebuild their dominance?
OTOH, everyone is out to make a buck. That's why I work, that's why you work (I presume you are employed), and that's why IBM jumped on the Linux bandwagon. Money.
But hey, if they do Linux good, then can we really complain? Only time will tell I guess.

But, I sure yearn for the "good old days", when the word "Linux" != "Marketing and Buzzword".

Re:Not too bad

[Sir SurfALot]

Yes, they were an evil empire back then, but as you said, times have indeed changed...Even tho IBM's share price has increased dramatically since the beginning of the decade, I think it's still fairly safe to describe the blue elephant as a tuskless and altogether completely harmless old beast. ;-)

IBM to my mind have been pushed back into the wannabe department. Yes so they've managed to improve things for themselves flogging services, but they still fundamentally have their "solutions" oriented philosophy which dates back to their heyday in the 70s/early 80s.
They're trying to get back into prime time, which means they'll get into bed with Linux or anyone else who'll have them for that matter, but unless they change the solutions philosophy, IMHO they're going nowhere fast.

Re:IBM is not the same

[PenguinDude]

Yeah, that's the same story I've heard as well. If it's true, then I'm as happy as a puppy with two peters. I believe that IBM could be a great asset for the Linux community.

Fun ride, eh? I would LOVE to see IBM stick it to MS. MS seriously screwed IBM (ya,ya business as usual, right?) and it would be poetic justice for IBM to come back and wack Gates off his throne.

Holy smokes...

[Ethelred Unraed]

Damn, IBM really pulled out the stops for this, didn't they? Interesting to see our very own CmdrTaco show up there, too. (Congrats, Rob.)

I, for one, am pleased pink about this. It's high time that someone did a tightly organized, professional and concise developer support site for Linux. Looks to be tons of info there...I'm jealous. ;-)

Add this to SmartBeak, and things are looking up in Linuxland.

Funny to note that ten to twenty years ago, IBM was The Great Enemy(TM), at least for us Mac fans. Now they've turned 180 degrees in my book.

So when is IBM gonna start selling Aptivas only with Linux? ;-)

Ethelred

function post() { if ($ethelred) { $post = 'First';} echo $post.' :-) '; }

IBM is not the same

[nevets]

Actually I believe that IBM jumped on the Linux bandwagon to "Get Microsoft". I live in a community that is dominated by IBM. A buddy of mine that works at IBM showed me a 8 page report on how much they "hate" Bill Gates. They are not the suits displayed in "Pirates of Silicon Valley" anymore. They are actually like the folks at Apple now. After the fall of IBM, they reorginized and changed their whole attitude. Some people actually go to work in shorts!

I'm glad IBM has chosen Linux as the weopon against MS. This sould be a fun ride :)

I liked the term 'Legos for computer scientists'

[Pingo]

Goto http://www.software.ibm.com/developer/library/linu xibm and read about their skunkworks experiences.


//Pingo

Someone at IBM is VERY clever

[hedgehog_uk]

The Linux supporters at IBM who set up this page are very crafty. They know that they're going to get slashdotted, so greet us with an interview with our very own CmdrBurrito, thereby instantly doubling the slashdot effect. The IBM Linux guys then go to the Important Suits and say,
"Look, Important Suits, at the stats from the first few hours of our linux pages going online".

The Important Suits, not having heard of the Slashdot effect, are suit-ably impressed and before you can say "Micro$oft sux", the dollar signs are lighting up in their eyes.

Seriously, IBM's recent commitments to Linux are very encouraging and hopefully should increase Linux's credibility as a serious OS for business.