Linux catches on at coal power plants, Dec 20, 2003

The move at Innogy and Verano indicates not only the growing popularity of Linux but also that much of its growth is likely to come at the expense of Unix, the proprietary operating system after which open-source Linux is modeled.

Car giant Fiat is deploying Linux running on Intel Itanium 2-based servers to support its European sales and support network, which will link 17 countries by 2005.

The system will allow Fiat's sales outlets to provide continuously updated product and market information, and let sales staff check stock availability and examine payment and financing options.

Momentum to migrate from Microsoft Corp. products to open-source software is rapidly gaining in Germany, where numerous companies are reacting to the U.S. software giant's licensing policy.

Small and medium-size businesses, in particular, have begun to replace as much Microsoft software as possible with open-source options such as Linux in an effort to slash IT costs, according to IT managers at the LinuxWorld conference and exhibition in Frankfurt.

IBM Corp. will support the effort by providing 57 blade servers and related software to create a Linux-based, on-demand grid computing system that will be able to grow with the project, said Daniel Bonelli, an IBM vice president of industry solutions marketing. By using an on-demand grid computing system, higher computing needs can be instantly cranked up when a storm hits to help analyze the data that's collected, while computing resources could be reconfigured instantly if a storm destroys part of the system.

"We performed a number of benchmarking tests using typical models and selected the Linux cluster from the results of these tests," the spokesman told vnunet.com.

"The main benefit we have gained is indeed in time: we are now running a complete analysis on large models overnight, so that engineers can send a job to run in the evening and then have the results available in the following morning.

NTT Data Intellilink, the systems integration arm of NTT, said Thursday that it has become a member of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global Linux advocacy group that counts among its members several leading Linux distributors including IBM, Red Hat, Hewlett-Packard and SuSE Linux. OSDL provides services such as testing to promote the use of Linux in high-end computers.

Ford currently uses versions of Unix from Sun Microsystems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM. But it's considering more widespread use of Linux on Intel Corp. hardware for some of its server-based applications, primarily because of the potential cost benefits, said George Surdu, director of global IT infrastructure at Ford.

"Do we believe Linux will have a home in Ford Motor Co.? The answer is absolutely yes," said Surdu. "Will it be the be-all, end-all for Ford Motor Co.? No way. But we are very encouraged and pretty excited about Linux in certain spaces."

Ford is joining the ranks of governments and local authorities across the world that have switched from Microsoft software to the free open-source alternative Linux.

The car giant will run its sales operations, human resources, customer relations management and the rest of its infrastructure operations on the upstart technology.

Linux Networx announced today that Audi is using a Linux Networx Evolocity II(R) (E2) MAGMASOFT(R) cluster to simulate components for the new Audi Space Frame(R) for future car models. The E2 MAGMASOFT system has helped speed simulations from two weeks to two days - a 10x improvement compared to the RISC-based system Audi was using previously.

Privately held Chicago-based Orbitz uses more than 750 Linux-on-Intel Compaq computers in its data center to download fares, service search requests and run the company's booking engine. In the fall, Orbitz migrated its web applications running on Sun Microsystems' Enterprise 4500 servers to Compaq machines. The migration meant moving the software from Solaris running on 168 Sparc processors to Linux running on 100 Intel chips.

The move appears as something of a blow to Microsoft Corp. which has been promoting the use of its own software in DVD players, televisions and other electronics gear. Bill Gates, the company's chairman and chief software architect, has been the opening speaker at the giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the past several years.

Linux, which runs on workstations using Intel chips instead of more expensive machines from companies such as SGI, is becoming a popular way to satisfy the appetites of an increasingly digital Hollywood. Other digital animation companies using Linux on Intel systems include Industrial Light and Magic and Pixar.

A UK IT industry body backed by Microsoft, IBM, Intel, BAE Systems and other high-tech heavyweights has urged the UK government to show restraint in its use of open-source software, particularly software covered by the General Public License.

Penguin Computing, a server maker that specializes in Linux-running machines, has signed an agreement to acquire Scyld Computing, the two companies plan to announce Tuesday

Control-system specialist Verano has introduced a service and software package to help companies protect their critical infrastructure from digital attacks.

Intel has found that a 32-processor Itanium server running Linux is rivaling Windows and Unix servers in database performance, a major accomplishment for the comparatively young operating system.

The Linux operating system has been used by computer die-hard operators since the very early 1990's. Now, more than a decade later, many computer network administrators are beginning to view the open source, or public, software as a viable alternative to products like Microsoft's Windows.

According to Robertson, Intel is refusing to play ball when it comes to getting Linux up and running on the Centrino chipset machines. He says that Intel is not providing Linux drivers for the essential hardware inside the chipset, leaving the open source community to scrabble around trying to figure out how to make drivers for themselves. That's a process that could take years.

Japan's biggest computer maker Fujitsu Ltd and U.S. chip giant Intel Corp said on Friday they had agreed to jointly develop high-performance Linux-based servers and market the products by the end of 2005.

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