“IBM Corp. Wednesday moved to slough off its reputation as a
stodgy, slow-moving enterprise by throwing its considerable support
behind Linux. And it is evangelizing Linux’s readiness to enter the
enterprise.”
“Palmisano, who has been with IBM for 30 years, said he first
became interested in Linux after accepting his present position
with the company. At that point, he traveled around the world
meeting with customers and the one thing everyone was talking
about, he said, was Linux. Since that time, IBM has implemented
Linux on its eServer z900 mainframe and has proceeded to set up
Linux systems for companies like Shell Oil, Deutsche Telekom,
Weather.com, even Morgan Stanley. Deutsche Telekom, a subsidiary of
T Systems and one of Germany’s largest telecoms, is in the process
of installing Linux on a z900 for managing its e-mail
databases.”
“However, he said four myths have to date hampered the
acceptance of Linux, and IBM is making an effort to dispel those
myths. The first is that Linux can’t scale. While he conceded that
may have been true a year ago, Palmisano said that argument no
longer holds water. Referencing the z900, he simply asked, “What is
larger than a supercomputer?”