InformationWeek.com: Vendors Spur Linux On

“Linux has long been the perennial bridesmaid of the
computing world: Good enough to drive Web servers and other
front-end applications, as well as being a favorite with academics,
but not steady enough to pair with most companies’ critical
back-end operations.

Proponents have argued recently that the situation is changing.
This year, the open-source operating system may be closer to making
big inroads into the enterprise, with a slew of brand-name vendors
introducing products and services for advanced Linux-based
computing models.

IBM, which got behind Linux about two years ago, says the
operating system underpins the future of grid computing, under
which all computers inside a company, from desktops to mainframes,
are linked by intelligent software that can direct processing power
to where it’s most needed. The type of load balancing required for
such a model will work only in a totally open-source environment,
says Ross Mauri, VP for eServer development at IBM. “There’s no way
of connecting all the heterogeneous systems you would typically
find in a corporation into a usable grid,” he says.”

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