:ComputerWorld: GM Eyes Linux for 7,500 Dealer Systems
ComputerWorld: GM Eyes Linux for 7,500 Dealer Systems Sep 7, 1999, 19 :12 UTC (9 Talkback[s]) (6831 reads) (Other stories by David Orenstein)
"Forget about whether the Fortune 1,000 is interested
in Linux. Try the Fortune One. General Motors Corp., the
largest corporation in the U.S., is reviewing Linux to run the
order management applications at GM's approximately 7,500
North American dealerships."
"...David E. Hutka, operations manager of GM Access, the
dealership network, told Computerworld senior writer David
Orenstein that the automaker is considering a move from
Windows to Linux only because of how much the Microsoft
Corp. operating system taxes server hardware."
"Q: Why Linux?
A: Our main problem today is not the operating system; it's
the hardware and the infrastructure. We are looking at
replacing the server in each dealership. While we are doing
that, do we also change the operating system? We've got
applications banging on the door to get in but ... we don't have
the hard disk space. It's been reported that Linux is stable and
has low support costs, and it has a small footprint on the hard
disk and memory. The (fewer) resources the operating
system takes up, the more you can do with your applications.
Linux has no licensing issues."
