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IBM exec: 'Forces' at work against Linux
CNET ^
| July 30, 2003, 12:57 PM PT
| Andrew Colley
Posted on 07/30/2003 4:48:00 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
IBM exec: 'Forces' at work against Linux
By
Andrew ColleyStaff Writer, CNET News.com
July 30, 2003, 12:57 PM PT
An IBM executive has claimed that a "set of forces" is attempting to derail Linux, and hinted that Microsoft and SCO Group are among those responsible. Al Zollar, a general manager of sales for IBM eServer iSeries, told delegates attending the company's Asia Pacific Strategic Planning Conference in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday that a "set of forces" was attempting to stymie adoption of the open-source operating system.
"They're mostly located in Redmond, although they have recruited a few allies," said Zollar. Microsoft has its headquarters in Redmond, Wash.
Zollar then indicated that SCO was part of the alliance. The company, based in Lindon, Utah, has made intellectual property claims to certain code contained in some versions of Linux and is maneuvering to gather license fees from commercial applications of the operating system.
The Linux license program is the latest event arising out of a high-profile legal dispute between SCO and IBM over Linux code. SCO claims that it has intellectual property rights over portions of Unix code that Big Blue, among others, misappropriated and incorporated into Linux source code. The company alleges that the code was lifted directly from a version of Unix System V, over which it has registered copyright.
IBM did not take the opportunity to elaborate on Zollar's statement.
Some industry analysts and open-source proponents claim that the SCO legal dispute is a deliberate move to create uncertainty over the intellectual property rights as applied to software applications developed in collaboration.
Many Linux fans unhappy with SCO's actions have suggested Microsoft is behind the attack on the open-source software. Although Microsoft announced it had signed a deal for a new Unix license from SCO in May, it said it had done so only in response to SCO's licensing request. The software giant has denied other involvement in SCO's legal actions. SCO, meanwhile, has said its plan is based on its own intellectual property, not on prompting from Microsoft.
IBM has made clear its belief in the importance of Linux to its products and server strategy. The company, based in Armonk, N.Y., said Tuesday that it had witnessed 600 percent growth in the implementation of Linux in its iSeries midrange server line throughout the Asia Pacific region. However, Big Blue added that the operating system is not yet being used for core applications.
Zollar said Linux progress in the enterprise market was unstoppable, and he described SCO's claims as "silly."
ZDNet Australia's Andrew Colley reported from Sydney. CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: ibm; linux; techindex; unix
To: *tech_index; MizSterious; shadowman99; Sparta; freedom9; martin_fierro; PatriotGames; Mathlete; ...
2
posted on
07/30/2003 4:48:55 PM PDT
by
Ernest_at_the_Beach
(All we need from a Governor is a VETO PEN!!!)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Atttention IBM: I will consider Linux equal to windows when I can switch without loosing a single dollar in software usage.
Put in disk and go. In other words not not 100% compatability, 100% INVISIBLE compatability.
To: longtermmemmory
Not that Linux is better or worse, but you make it sound as if you might not have upgraded from CP/M to DOS, or from DOS+Windows to new hardware and Win2k.
Following innovation will cost you, don't you think? I'm not saying that Linux is an innovation over Windows, but one day someone will do something better.
4
posted on
07/30/2003 5:23:32 PM PDT
by
risk
To: risk
Actually I would like to get out from under windows. However there is zero consideration of this because my business software must run on windows. Since it is a niche market, that's is all she wrote.
CP/M or DOS is an old comparison. If I have to upgrade, I will. Database migration is critical. In the past I have had to have two programs running simultaneously for months to make sure the process was complete. But that was DOS windows 3.1 migration. That was based in part on the idea of continued ability to migrate up and up to newer versions.
My present concern is that I am hostage to the microsoft monopoly. While I am not yet within the scope of the "inovative" licensing plan, at some point it is invevitable that they will use their dominance to force me there. At that point, I will do cost of continued windows with the feasability of moving to linux.
I am not a linux basher or fan. I am just looking for the numbers that work best for my bottom line in a windows world.
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
 This is a significant development in this soap opera we've been watching, but it's hard to tell what it means. This looks like a kind of non-official Official Statement. No executive at Zollar's level at IBM is going to go out and make a public statement concerning pending litigation on his own account. Whatever his exact words were, the Executive Management team and all the lawyers signed off on it before they sent him out there to say it. Either that, or this guy is going to resign to pursue other interests before the week is out.
Assuming that this was a cleared statement, it seems to be saying that IBM wants interested parties to know that it views SCO as a cut-out for Microsoft in this endeavor, and that IBM will be acting accordingly. That's a fairly strong statement to make. It opens up several lines of behavior that IBM would never consider if it viewed SCO itself as the combatant. |
6
posted on
07/30/2003 5:36:36 PM PDT
by
Nick Danger
(The views expressed may not actually be views)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
To: Nick Danger
I thought it was a pretty strong statement!
8
posted on
07/30/2003 5:55:36 PM PDT
by
Ernest_at_the_Beach
(All we need from a Governor is a VETO PEN!!!)
To: Nick Danger
I thought it was a pretty strong statement!
But he is not a real high exec and he was in Australia!
9
posted on
07/30/2003 5:56:38 PM PDT
by
Ernest_at_the_Beach
(All we need from a Governor is a VETO PEN!!!)
To: longtermmemmory
Don't you realize you already are using linux every time you get on the web?
The desktop will come later - perhaps not for some that are too old to change.
10
posted on
07/30/2003 6:28:43 PM PDT
by
paulk
To: paulk
Don't you realize you already are using linux every time you get on the web? At the very least, every time you use Free Republic.
To: longtermmemmory
It's called WINE, and it's a free add-on to Linux.
Of course, it does eat into your computer's performance, duplicating the software bloat that is Windows. . .
12
posted on
07/30/2003 7:23:38 PM PDT
by
Salgak
(don't mind me: the orbital mind control lasers are making me write this. . .)
To: longtermmemmory
I will consider Linux equal to windows when I can switch without loosing a single dollar in software usage. What about all the money wasted on Microsoft upgrades? According to the New York Times last week: "Mr. Gates said the company was considering the possibility of charging for some of its software updates that are now made available free over the Internet."
Put in disk and go. In other words not not 100% compatability, 100% INVISIBLE compatability.
100% invisible compatibility means put in a disk and crash. One of the chief advantages of Linux is that it doesn't emulate Windows.
13
posted on
07/30/2003 10:31:46 PM PDT
by
HAL9000
To: longtermmemmory
What's the problem?
Nearly any POSIX program will run on Linux.
14
posted on
07/31/2003 1:26:12 PM PDT
by
adam_az
To: Salgak
Wine does not slow stuff down very much. You can even run FPS shooter games in Wine.
VMware is a hog, but they are different in how they work.
15
posted on
07/31/2003 1:28:19 PM PDT
by
adam_az
To: risk
>you make it sound as if you might not have upgraded from CP/M to DOS, or from DOS+Windows to new hardware and Win2k
There are still a lot
of people who still wonder
what the heck we need
any OS for...
(Programs haven't "gotten small"
"sharing" all that code...)
To: Nick Danger
Great observations. I have wondered for weeks why no one was mentioning an (obvious) instigator in this mess behind SCO.
Many TCP IP switches have linux as the core OS. This fight will gather some unususal alliances on either side.
17
posted on
07/31/2003 1:38:12 PM PDT
by
NorthGA
To: theFIRMbss
:)
18
posted on
07/31/2003 2:33:53 PM PDT
by
risk
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