To: Mitch Blevins who wrote (1022 ) 2/16/1999 8:31:00 AM From: Arnold Layne Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Linux & the small players. (IBM & SAP)
These stories from The Register (UK):
Posted 16/02/99 11:53am by Tony Smith
Big Blue to ship Linux on x86, PowerPC systems
IBM will next month announce its intention to bundle Linux on a wide
range of systems and that it will develop its own version of the OS for
its RS/6000 machines.
The announcement, due to take place at next month's LinuxWorld show in
San Jose, California, will see Big Blue licensing a range of Linux
distributions from the leading vendors. Red Hat, Caldera, Pacific HiTech
and SuSE have been suggested by sources as likely suppliers of the OS
for IBM's Netfinity servers and a Linux edition of its PC300 desktop
line.
IBM will also offer Linux editions of its low-end RS/6000 servers and
workstation. Initially, it will bundle LinuxPPC's PowerPC incarnation of
the OS at least until its own distribution of the freeware OS is
complete.
Sources suggest the decision to support multiple versions of Linux --
beyond the need for distributions aimed at different processors -- arose
because the company was unhappy with sticking with a single supplier.
And there's another advantage: tying specific distributions to specific
systems will allows IBM to spread the technical support burden across
multiple suppliers. ®
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Posted 15/02/99 4:53pm by Mike Magee
SAP on Linux trail
Sources close to German company SAP's plans told The Register today it
is actively exploring Linux as the basis for its app software in the
future.
That will chime some bells with Intel, which has, in the past few
months, recruited many SAP programmers and committed itself to Linux.
But the news is likely to cause despondency at Microsoft's HQ.
SAP was -- and perhaps is -- the jewel, possibly even the Kohinoor in
the Microsoft crown.
Today, no-one from either SAP or Microsoft was available to answer our
many questions. ®
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