IBM Willing To Pony Up $1 Billion Investment In Linux
Out of seemingly nowhere, Linux is becoming a hot topic. Major technology players ranging from Google to IBM are coming forward in support of the open-source OS, and at LinuxCon 2013, IBM announced plans to invest one billion dollars in new Linux and open source technologies for IBM's Power Systems servers. As IBM puts it: "the investment aims to help clients capitalize on big data and cloud computing with modern systems built to handle the new wave of applications coming to the data center in the post-PC era."
Two immediate initiatives announced, a new client center in Europe and a Linux on Power development cloud, focus on rapidly expanding IBM’s growing ecosystem supporting Linux on Power Systems which today represents thousands of independent software vendor and open source applications worldwide. The Power Systems Linux Center in France is a newly-opened plant where software developers can build and deploy new applications for big data, cloud, mobile and social business computing on open technology building blocks using Linux and the latest IBM POWER7+ processor technology. To serve the growing number of developers, Business Partners and clients interested in running Linux on Power Systems, IBM is expanding its Power Systems cloud for development, too.
Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation commented on the investment stating, "The last time IBM committed $1B to Linux, it helped start a flurry of innovation that has never slowed. IBM's continued investments in Linux for Power Systems is welcomed by the Linux community. We look forward to seeing how the Power platform can bring about further innovation on Linux, and how companies and developers can work together to get the most out of this open architecture."
McCredie also addressed how Watson, IBM's cognitive computing solution that gained fame as the first non-human to win the Jeopardy! game show and now available in a variety of industry solutions, runs on commercially available Power Systems servers running Linux. All in all, Linux hasn't been able to win over the hearts of the consumer masses, but it's powering a shocking amount of commercial applications that we rely on each day.
Two immediate initiatives announced, a new client center in Europe and a Linux on Power development cloud, focus on rapidly expanding IBM’s growing ecosystem supporting Linux on Power Systems which today represents thousands of independent software vendor and open source applications worldwide. The Power Systems Linux Center in France is a newly-opened plant where software developers can build and deploy new applications for big data, cloud, mobile and social business computing on open technology building blocks using Linux and the latest IBM POWER7+ processor technology. To serve the growing number of developers, Business Partners and clients interested in running Linux on Power Systems, IBM is expanding its Power Systems cloud for development, too.
Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation commented on the investment stating, "The last time IBM committed $1B to Linux, it helped start a flurry of innovation that has never slowed. IBM's continued investments in Linux for Power Systems is welcomed by the Linux community. We look forward to seeing how the Power platform can bring about further innovation on Linux, and how companies and developers can work together to get the most out of this open architecture."
McCredie also addressed how Watson, IBM's cognitive computing solution that gained fame as the first non-human to win the Jeopardy! game show and now available in a variety of industry solutions, runs on commercially available Power Systems servers running Linux. All in all, Linux hasn't been able to win over the hearts of the consumer masses, but it's powering a shocking amount of commercial applications that we rely on each day.
