“Since 1999, IBM has made several announcements in support
of Linux. IBM has done so because it wants to position itself as a
leader, in case Linux takes off in a big way.”
“Accordingly, IBM has adopted a strategy of offering Linux
across all of its hardware platforms, including mainframes.”
“To get Linux on its S/390 mainframe, IBM has also devised a
pricing schedule that makes adopting the OS a financially palatable
option. Under the plan, IBM charges $125,000 per processor in a G6
IBM S/390 server running Linux, less than what IBM would charge
normally for an additional processor.”