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Technology Stocks : LINUX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: g_m10 who wrote (920)	1/27/1999 3:10:00 AM
From: Rusty Johnson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2615

Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition interactive.wsj.com Linux Operating System Gets Boost From H-P, Silicon Graphics Support By LEE GOMES Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The Linux operating system is getting another big boost, with two major computer makers announcing support for the free software product. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Silicon Graphics Inc. said they will begin providing Linux as an option on some of their computers built with chips from Intel Corp. Additionally, H-P said it will help create a version of Linux to run on the next-generation "Merced" chip that it is jointly developing with Intel. The announcements are another indication of the growing popularity of Linux and are the latest endorsements of the software from big computer companies. In recent months, Oracle Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. said they will make their database products available on Linux. The latest announcements go even further, with H-P and SGI saying they will embrace Linux as one of their core operating-system offerings. ... Linux boosters say they like the operating system because it is simple, lean and fast. They also like that they can have access to its blueprints, which are called the "source code," to make whatever modifications they want. By contrast, companies such as Microsoft Corp. rarely provide the source code to their products. The news from H-P and SGI shows the tightrope that big computer companies must walk as they try to accommodate the surge in interest in Linux. Both H-P and SGI sell computers that run on the Unix operating system, on which Linux is based. But the two companies also have close relations with Microsoft, which is watching Linux with a wary eye because of the threat it poses to its Windows NT software. H-P is offering Linux on its Intel-based "server" computers through an arrangement with Red Hat Software Inc., a Research Triangle Park, N.C., company that is one of several companies trying to commercialize the language. SGI, conversely, said it will provide support for Linux itself. Although Linux is free of charge, its inclusion isn't expected to significantly reduce the price of the machines it ships with. Linux is especially popular with Internet-related software. But Eileen O'Brien, marketing manager for one of H-P's server divisions, said that business users are beginning to evaluate Linux for general commercial applications. Beau Vrolyk, senior vice president of the computer-systems division at SGI, noted that few operating systems have garnered the support that Linux has in as brief a time. "There is something of an avalanche going on here," he said. H-P said that for the time being, it has no plans to provide Linux for desktop computers, since the operating system is still somewhat taxing for nontechnical users. But that may change in coming months, because Linux programmers are working on friendlier versions of the language that have a Windows-like interface and a larger roster of consumer-oriented software. Best of luck. (Off topic: IFMX may sell off on great earnings news tomorrow ... or it may not. Fun to watch.)