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To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (1288)	2/18/1999 10:04:00 AM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

IBM To Sell Linux With Services From Red Hat RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news), the world's largest technology company, and Linux distributor Red Hat Software Inc. said Thursday that IBM will begin selling computers with the Linux operating system. Linux is a free version of the Unix operating system for network computers that runs on Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news)-based chips. IBM's decision to offer Linux will be closely watched by Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), which has cited Linux as one of its potential competitive threats. ''This is an important milestone in the rapidly growing acceptance of Linux,'' Red Hat Chief Executive, Bob Young, said in a statement. In January, IBM's computer hardware rivals Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news), Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq:DELL - news) and Silicon Graphics Inc. (NYSE:SGI - news) agreed to offer Linux on their systems. ''Our customers are asking for Linux solutions,'' IBM Personal Systems Group general manager of marketing and strategy, Bill McCracken, said. Linux, however, has not gained wide acceptance -- it is supported by a far-flung group of programmers and small companies -- because users have nowhere to turn to for technical support. ''The Linux community has faced a number of real and imagined barriers to its acceptance within the enterprise,'' Bill Peterson, Research Manager at IDC Research, said. ''One of the barriers to Linux in the enterprise is the availability of technical support.'' IBM and Red Hat will work together to provide Linux customers technical support and will conduct joint marketing. ''IBM's support organization is legendary within the industry ... the technical support argument against Linux in the enterprise becomes moot,'' Peterson said. Red Hat is a five-year old start-up that last year received an equity investment from Intel. IBM will offer Linux on its Netfinity servers, PC 300 Commercial Desktops, IntelliStations, and ThinkPads.