IBM head vows to boost Linux development

IBM supremo Lou Gerstner yesterday gave a rousing speech in New York to reaffirm IBM's commitment to open systems, revealing that the company will spend $1bn developing Linux and $4bn on technology for ebusiness and outsourcing.

Speaking at the eBusiness conference in New York, Gerstner added that IBM has won its second 'supercomputer' order for Linux from Shell International Exploration, this one to be the world's largest. "The movement to standards-based computing is so inexorable, I believe Sun, and EMC and Microsoft for that matter - is running the last big proprietary play we'll see in this business for a good long while," said Gerstner. "IBM is convinced that Linux can do for business applications what the internet did for networking and communications," he added and went on to explain that it will make computing easier and free from proprietary operating systems. Linux will also offer a way for IBM to unite its many platforms; the rebadged AS/400 and RS/6000 and enterprise systems. Gerstner pointed out that use of Linux is growing twice as fast as Windows NT and that Unix looks increasingly likely to become more prevalent than NT. IBM employs 1,500 Linux developers. Last week, IBM used Linux to bump 70 Sun Microsystems servers from Scandinavian telco Telia to put in a G6 mainframe. The Shell supercomputer will be made up of 1024 X-Series servers in 32 racks and will be used for the mathematically demanding seismic analysis work of the oil company. IBM today launched its 'Patterns for e-Business' in Europe. This is a series of free, on-the-web templates and architectures for ebusiness based on IBM's own experience in developing systems. The move was welcomed by Martin Butler of the Butler Group. "Business on the internet adds an extra level of complexity and many of the skills to deal with this are not readily available - having a pre-packaged blueprint of solutions is an obvious step. Although most of the levels of patterns are vendor independent in IBM's version, I think that this is good enough that a standards body should take it up, " said Butler.