I disagree on IBM's motives. It looks to me that this is a totally
"bottom-line" type of decision. It seems to me that they don't really think
Linux is that powerful, they just need something to replace the aging OS/390
on the mainframes and they want to get rid of NT on the low-end (Intel)
servers. If they really thought that Linux and open source was going to be
the "Next Big Thing" for servers, they would be promoting Linux for all
their platforms, not just the S/390 and the xSeries. If Open Source is so
important to IBM, where is the source to AIX, WebSphere, or any of their
other programs?
The power of the Linux phenomenon is not in Linux itself...there is nothing
about it fundamentally different than any other Unix. The important
distinction is that Linux is Free (as in speech, beer doesn't matter as
much). Free Software is what creates the flexibility that Linux is famous
for. That flexibility is what allows IBM to run it on a S/390 in the first
place, yet it seems that they are not interested in Freeing any of their
other projects.
#########################################################################
Eric Pierce Phone: (813) 974-8868
Academic Computing Fax: (813) 974-1799
University of South Florida
> -----Original Message-----
> From: slug@nks.net [mailto:slug@nks.net]On Behalf Of Paul M Foster
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 7:02 PM
> To: slug@nks.net
> Subject: Re: [SLUG] Tonight's Presentation
>
>
> Oooo, I like _all_ of those!
>
> Aside from _what_ IBM is doing and _how_, the why is essentially this:
> IBM wanted to be ahead of the curve on this one. They've missed the boat
> several times, and here was a case where they could see the writing on
> the wall with regard to Linux. One other important point: IBM has no
> interest in Linux on the desktop. That's not what they're pushing.
>
> As for the video, I'd guess it was a little over an hour. Someone is
> duping copies, so I imagine we can probably get one.
>
> HTH,
>
> Paul
>
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