All IBM servers to work with LinuxNew York 11 Jan 00AP Business Writer Bruce Meyerson said IBM announced that it would configure all its four lines of computer servers to work with Linux, a system that is distributed for free on the Web and championed by legions of independent programmers. Coming from IBM, the move essentially finalizes the mainstreaming of Linux _ elevating it from the rank of grass-root upstart to a player on the same level as the Unix and Windows NT operating systems for servers writes Meyerson. Linux is an ``open-source'' platform, which means access to the software code is free, and anyone can work to modify it. IBM argued that this makes Linux the easiest system for programmers to write e-commerce applications that run on any machine. The new push into Linux ``puts the world's leading server vendor on a side other than Sun and Microsoft, which are opposed to open standards and which favor closed, proprietary operating systems,'' said James Sciales, an IBM spokesman to Meyerson. ``We believe that open standards are the key to the next-generation of the Internet, and Linux is where we're placing our bets.'' IBM had already tiptoed into the Linux world over the past two years through alliances with Red Hat, Caldera and TurboLinux, all of which sell their own versions of the operating system, and LinuxCare, a company that provides Linux support services.
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