IBM $1 Billion Investment Will Boost Innovation in Linux Development

At the LinuxCon 2013, IBM announced it would invest $ 1 billion in new technologies and open source Linux for Power Systems servers. The investment aims to help companies leverage big data and cloud computing with modern systems built to handle the new wave of applications that arrive at the data center.

The big blue aims is to facilitate the activities and the expansion of the ecosystem that supports Linux on IBM Power Systems, a heritage of thousands of ISVs and open source applications worldwide. IBM announced the new investment in front of an audience of more than 1,400 industry leaders, developers and end users to the Linux Foundation’s LinuxCon conference in New Orleans, noting that the funds will be used to research, design and development of products and will help to finance the creation of new skills and support programs and go-to-market for customers, developers, business partners, entrepreneurs, teachers and students.

IBM said many companies are struggling to manage big data and cloud computing using commodity servers based on decades-old, PC era technology. These servers are quickly overrun by data which triggers the purchase of more servers, creating un-sustainable server sprawl. The era of big data calls for a new approach to IT systems; one that is open, customizable, and designed from the ground up to handle big data and cloud workloads.

The last time IBM committed $1 billion to Linux, it helped start a flurry of innovation that has never slowed. IBM’s continued investments in Linux for Power Systems is welcomed by the Linux community. Since 1999, IBM participates in and guide a wide range of open source projects, which today include OpenPower, OpenStack, Hadoop, OpenDaylight, KVM, Apache and Eclipse, as well as Linux.

The first two initiatives announced in this project are a new Central European Linux Power System and cloud development for Linux on Power. The Linux Power System will be used for infrastructure design and to learn and test remote Power Linux platforms.

The announcement follows the recent OpenPower notification, IBM alliance with NVIDIA and Google and others to provide available technology to encourage open source innovation. As part of the OpenPower collaboration, IBM will make IBM Power microprocessor available under license to other companies for collaboration and open development.

The adoption of Linux over the years has grown, thanks to the support from IBM. Currently almost all data centers on the planet are using the operating system of the Penguin. Big companies like Google and Facebook supercomputers are also running on Linux. Linux is also at the heart of Android operating system developed by Google, which recently reached one billion activation.

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