“IBM is expected to continue its push for the lion’s share of
the corporate Linux market later this week when the company unveils
its plans to offer technical support for Linux across 165
countries. The move follows similar offerings that have been
implemented by the likes of HP and LinuxCare , but inevitably IBM
will be the only one to offer such a comprehensive service. Vendors
like HP may offer hardware support, but when it gets to the
software the problems are typically being passed over to Red Hat.
In IBM’s case, all primary support will be offered by the Armonk
based IT giant, although once the software call gets particularly
complex it is expected that it will be referred to the original
software seller.”
“IBM had tentatively said that it would be offering this support
service in June, but the company is rolling out the service now and
it is expected to offer support for both Red Hat and Caldera’s
Linux offerings. Later in the year the company is expected to add
support for SuSE and TurboLinux.”