InfoWorld: IBM Looks to SMB Sector for Linux Love

“Ahead of the Linuxworld Conference and Expo, which begins
Tuesday in San Francisco, IBM Corp. is seeding the field with a
collection of announcements that illustrate its momentum behind the
open-source operating system. The company detailed Thursday new
customers that have chosen to use Linux with its hardware and
software. Nine customers being highlighted bring IBM’s tally of
Linux followers to more than 4,600, the company said.

“What is notable about the latest batch of converts is that some
come from the small and medium-sized business (SMB) sector, a
segment known for typically using Windows servers to run basic
business, productivity and accounting applications.

“Despite popular belief, ‘Linux is being used quite heavily by
small and medium-sized business,’ said Scott Handy, director of
Linux software solutions for IBM. ‘We’ve been partnering with
independent software vendors (ISVs) who call on the SMB
market…'”

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