Datamation: Linux Breathes New Life Into The Mainframe

"The level of interest has taken many by surprise, including IBM itself. "A year ago, honestly, we did not expect it to take off as it did," says Joann Duguid, IBM's director of Z-series Linux.

"Linux has been a huge breath of fresh air for the mainframe," says Giga Information Group analyst David Mastrobattista. "It's now politically correct to be talking about mainframes again in the data center."

The interest in Linux on the mainframe has helped boost mainframe sales, according to both analysts and IBM itself. IBM has seen double-digit growth for the Z-series mainframe over the last four quarters, and "attributes a large part of that to Linux," says Duguid. Mastrobattista says he would not be surprised to see the use of Linux on the mainframe double this year."

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