"IBM is hoping its billion-dollar commitment to the free
operating system Linux will propel the platform into the enterprise
spotlight and increase its hardware and services revenue. Big
Blue's regional vice-president Kakutaro Kitashiro said last week it
was hoping to "wrap" its services, middleware and servers around
Linux applications from independent software vendors."
"We have made our middleware so it can run on top of Linux," he
said. IBM would also spend $US200 million ($377 million) over the
next four years to develop Linux applications as part of its $US1
billion commitment to the platform, he said."
"Linux is the new operating system that many companies are
starting to use," Mr Kitashiro said. "It's not mature yet and there
are only some applications for it. "Lots of ISVs think Linux has a
huge potential for the future, particularly in the internet."
