IBM, Red Hat Push Linux in Emerging Markets (March of the penguins ;)

IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) and Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT - news) have announced a joint initiative aimed at accelerating the development and adoption of Linux-based products in emerging markets like China, India, Russia and Korea.

The two companies will provide software developers with implementation services, expertise and technical resources to help them certify new applications for IBM and Red Hat software.

According to IBM, the program will give developers greater ability to build standards-based products that will not lock customers into proprietary operating environments.

In unveiling the initiative, IBM noted that a shift is occurring in emerging markets, particularly with a greater number of customers asking for technology options based on open standards. As part of the program, IBM will offer 29 new Linux skill-building tutorials on DeveloperWorks, the company's online resource for developers.

Red Hat will provide independent software vendors with copies of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, along with supporting documentation and access to Red Hat Network. The two companies will provide developers with resources and support at IBM Innovation Centers in 15 locations across Asia, North America and Europe.

"Red Hat has established leadership in emerging markets such as China, India, Russia, Korea and Japan and we are excited for this opportunity to work with IBM to take the next steps to enable the global ecosystem of developers," said Tim Yeaton, senior vice president of marketing at Red Hat.

The IBM and Red Hat initiative is indicative of the growing sophistication of developers in emerging countries, said John Challenger, chief executive of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"When you look at countries like India, you see that there's a strong focus there on ramping up the technical education of its labor force," said Challenger.

"Given the growing strength of Linux, it's not surprising that there would be more efforts toward giving those developers more resources and tools to advance in that area," he added.

Maine?

LOL

I suppose that he would be called a warehousing consultant. He has worked with dozens of large corporations around the world, it's a good job. He asked me not to discuss what he was doing there, but it involved a contract with a large non-U.S. corporation. I believe that he was in India for just a few months.

Clearly to him it is where the action is, and he wants to return.

Problem is that they aren't going to allow me the time to learn Sun while they are paying me to work.

But you will be facing a similar learning curve if you attempt Linux. It is based on Unix of course, I'd recommend learning the bonifide version instead of the freeware fake.

You did prove your point though, as I knew you would. =) Thanks GE.

You are very welcome. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't think it would be a good career move, or it wouldn't help get you on with a better employer.

The key is not so much which distro is better, period, but which distro suits the individual needs and feels of the person.

I absolutely agree in principle.

It's all a matter of personal preference--it don't matter on what you learn it, so long as you can learn it...

But I disagree on execution.

Having nursed many a Linux newbie through that first week of ups and downs using a completely new OS, I've found that the absolute most important thing is that the distro that they are first exposed to comply with The Principle of Least Astonishment.

That is, it should "just work." After getting used to the environment, they can go on to learn the power of doing things in a different way. But first they have to be comfortable using the OS.

Having to edit a bunch of /etc/ files to get your YUM or APT-RPM lists to work isn't the right way to start.

I used Debian and right out of the box it points apt-get to the Debian repositories. I always edit them later for things like Helix and Real, but from the first boot I can install and use software without jumping through hoops.

And that's what a new Linux user should be exposed to at first. Not the wild array of possibilities that exist, but the simple ability to make things work right out of the box. Exploration can come later, once they feel at home with the OS.

If you scare your new users off, they'll never bother to learn the power of configurability.

I used to point people to Mand(rake|riva), but after having used the (K)ubuntu LiveCDs, that's what I recommend for new users.

If you just wanted to show new users the power, why not just point them at the Linux From Scratch web page? That way they'll really learn. :)

I don't know. Personally, I've found RPM-based distros to be easier to get used to--like I said, I learned on SuSE, but was also able to explore Fedora, Mandrake (now Mandriva), etc. Especially until I learned how to get the tarballs to work. I knew that with an RPM, I could use KPackage to put the program on, and if I needed any dependencies, they'd be listed.

I'll admit that they're not for everybody, but then again, no system is. I was more comfortable with RPM's. Others might prefer Gentoo's Portage, or Deb packages, or Slackware tarballs.

I suppose what turned me off with Debian-based distros is that I could never get used to using the Debian packages. And by changing over to Slackware did I learn how to use the tarballs effectively.

The underlying point I'm trying to make, Knitebane, is that in my opinion, I don't really care what distribution people get used to and ultimately learn Linux, what I care about is that people can get used to Linux, which inturn leads to them being able to experiment and learn.

I agree, getting comfortable is a big part of it--a significant chunk of the battle.

How does being around longer make them any better or any less communist :P Don't forget that linux is based off of long standing POSIX compliant work, so in effect, its base is much stronger than Microsoft's. Also, I'm new here, so I guess I haven't caught much of your "communist" view of Linux, although it seems like something I'm going to get used to seeing, but if linux is no more "communist" than Microsoft. Who do you see pushing new competition out of the market before it gets a chance? Or at least used to :D

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