HP to expand Debian Linux support, Dec 05, 2003

In an effort to cater to vertical markets and customers who want customized applications that require changes to the Linux kernel, Hewlett-Packard Co. is planning to expand support offerings to customers who run the Debian Project's version of the operating system.

As vice president in charge of Hewlett-Packard's Linux strategy, Fink says HP's decision to indemnify its customers against lawsuits the SCO Group files has been a boon to sales. He also sees HP making inroads with its Linux products against Sun Microsystems' Solaris operating system.

For the sixth consecutive quarter, HP leads in worldwide server unit shipments, with 30.6 percent of the market, according to figures released today by IDC. Almost one of every three servers shipped is from HP.

HP held the No. 1 revenue share position in Linux, UNIX and Windows servers, demonstrating its across-the-board server market strength.

HP's recent campaign to lure Sun users is noteworthy, not because of the rivalry between these two giants, nor because HP is trying to woo Sun's customers, but, rather, because the promotion is designed to entice users to switch from Unix to Linux . This is another of a number of growing signs that Linux has come into its own.

Commentators are fairly uniform in stating that Linux, in the short term, poses a bigger threat to Unix than it does to Windows. But I believe even Microsoft executives have been surprised, and more than a little alarmed, to see the rate at which Linux is moving to capture an ever-growing share of the server market.

This summer, Sun Microsystems Inc. rolled out a program aimed at luring AlphaServer customers away from Hewlett-Packard Co. and its plans to standardize on Intel Corp.'s 64-bit Itanium chip.

On Friday, HP struck back, offering its own migration program for Sun customers looking to move from the Solaris platform to Linux. HP, of Palo Alto, Calif., is offering Sun users up to $25,000 in application porting and redeployment costs to make the transfer.

Update: Wed Sep 24 15:57:02 UTC

SCO has released a press statement alleging that HP's actions prove that Linux "is not free". The CNET story we link to has been updated to reflect these developments.

Hewlett-Packard plans to announce Wednesday that it will indemnify its Linux customers against potential legal actions by SCO Group.

Hewlett-Packard and a Chinese company have teamed to develop and market Linux software to companies in China--and later globally.

China-based Linux distributor Red Flag Software and Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP announced the alliance Tuesday, according to a statement from HP.

HP told me that an identical unit to the one I reviewed -- except for substituting either a 48X CD-ROM or CD-RW for the combo drive -- would cost $467 with Linux, $519 with Windows XP Home, or $589 for Windows XP Professional. I selected various options for d220 configuration on the HP Web site and found it was possible to get the price for a Linux d220 as low as $377 and as high as just over $900.

LinuxWorld started off on an enterprise note Tuesday, when Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Peter Blackmore took the keynote stage to talk about Linux's latest moves into top-tier deployments.

Blackmore, vice-president of the enterprise systems group for Hewlett-Packard, said that HP is as much a user of Linux as it is a solutions provider.

The alliance means HP plans to resell, market and support the new SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 on its HP ProLiant servers. The computer systems vendor also plans to ship its ProLiant servers preloaded with Enterprise Server 8, and plans to provide support for customers, along with support organizations backed by SuSE engineering and product maintenance teams. In addition, HP and SuSE said they would collaborate on extending the services to Itanium 2-based HP server customers.

The move reflects an expanding role for Linux within HP, particularly as HP begins shipping more servers based on Intel's Itanium 2 processors. It also follows the broader reshuffling of HP's overall enterprise unit in May, which created the ESS group out of HP's server and storage units.

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