InfoWorld: Linux and Itanium alter Sun’s gravity: HP’s Unix strategy marks shift toward open systems

“To overcome the inertia of its flagship OS, HP has opted to
open up HP-UX to allow the best of both worlds: Linux’s populist
appeal and HP’s bulletproof, if staid, image to create HP-UX 11i,
Hewlett-Packard’s most ambitious operating system to date. On
the hardware front, HP joined forces with Intel to create the
Itanium, a 64-bit processor that the companies hope will shape the
future of open systems.”

“To help with the integration of Linux, HP is also now
delivering release 1.0 of its Linux Porting Kit (LPK) as a free
download. It is an impressive first effort, featuring a full set of
GNU C/C++ development tools, Linux API libraries, and a software
transition kit. The LPK delivers only source-level Linux
compatibility, a fact that is sure to draw fire from
competitors.”

“The Linux API library, adapted from GNU’s C standard library,
fills in about 200 functions that are missing in HP-UX or that
Linux implements differently. The transition kit helps developers
identify these incompatibilities and resolve them. HP’s goal is to
get Linux coders accustomed to using HP-UX’s native libraries.
Although the LPK creates a bridge to bring Linux developers and
open-source applications to HP-UX, the open-source tools are not up
to the task of developing commercial projects on HP-UX.”

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