Rise of Linux totally unstoppable, IBM says, Oct 18, 2003

An IBM executive here in Berlin said in a roundtable about Linux and the challenges it faces that the rise of Open Source and Linux is unstoppable.

Deborah Magid, who works in the software division of IBM and liases with venture capitalists, said: "I’ve watched our use of open source grow and I agree it’s totally unstoppable. A lot of people wonder why we feel that way about open source, but in 1995 we shed our proprietary mindset. We supported Java because it was a portable platform, and Linux was attractive to us for the same reason". And, she said, the use of Linux is growing.

The move in industry and governments is enormous, with China, with Russia, with the UK government, with companies like Morgan Stanley. About a dozen countries are now looking at Linux on the desktop, she said.

Esfia Inc. announced that it has received $2 million in its first major round of financing, from four key investors. Esfia's CEO, Eric Lee, says Esfia will use the money to launch a line of RISC-based single board computers (SBCs) targeting vertical markets.

"Esfia has extended its business from embedded Linux software and middleware to embedded RISC-based SBCs with Integrated development environments (IDEs). This funding sets the stage for strong growth," explained Lee.

Hot on the heels of The SCO Group's announcement that BayStar Capital has invested $50 million in the company, questions are being raised about whether Microsoft Corp. may have had a role in that investment.

As an investment firm, BayStar leads, creates and participates in a number of PIPEs (Private Investments in Public Equity). Many of these deals involve investment money from other companies, including Microsoft, sources said.

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