Clarifying Dell and Linux, Nov 19, 2001

Dell continues to support Linux customers on a variety of client and server products both through factory installation and Linux vendor certification. Dell offers the latest release of Red HatŪ Linux 7.2 on its Precision Workstation and PowerEdge Server lines to customers who range from corporate professionals to performance computing enthusiasts through multiple ordering mechanisms, including over the internet.

Dell has published an open letter to its Linux customers 'clarifying' its position as regards the insurgent OS. Actually, the letter is headed "Clarifying Dell and Linux", but either of these would be a massive task, and we think we know what they meant to say. In any event, the letter reads like it's an apologia from a company that has been taking heavy fire from mullahs... er... enthusiasts and is making a desperate but futile effort to salvage its position.

Even before Nimda hit, Gartner predicted that the Linux server market would more than double within four years, from $1.8 billion this year to $3.8 billion by 2005. We think that estimate may be conservative given shrinking budgets, burgeoning security concerns and the outpouring of commercial support for Linux by major players. Familiar names such as IBM Global Services and Red Hat will lead the way in convincing those who are shy of open source that a Linux implementation can be backed up by a real, enterprise-class support contract (click here for a sampling of support offerings).

A group of developers in one of IBM's German Labs decided to run Linux under VM, provoked by a member of the Linux community who wanted to see Linux run everywhere.

By October of this year IBM claimed to have shipped its 1000th zSeries machine in about 9 or 10 months, mostly with the help of Linux

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