"IBM Corp. continued its vocal support of the Linux
operating system Tuesday, saying the company will gladly drop its
version of Unix from servers and replace it with Linux if the
software matures so that it can handle the most demanding tasks.
Executives speaking here at the company's developer conference
outlined reasons for the company's Linux support, pointing to
features in the operating system that could push it past Unix for
back-end computing. While they admit that Linux still has a way to
go before it can compete with the functions available on many
flavors of Unix, IBM officials said that Linux could prove more
cost effective and be a more user-friendly way to manage
servers.
"We are happy and comfortable with the idea that Linux can
become the successor not just for AIX but for all Unix operating
systems," said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group
executive of the IBM Software Group, during a news conference."
