Why I Believe Linux Will Fundamentally Change the IT Industry
Irving Wladawsky-Berger (Vice President, Technology and Strategy, IBM Server Group):
Why I Believe Linux Will Fundamentally Change the IT Industry. [via Linux Today]
1. It fulfills a big promise: all hardware, software and applications working together. Linux is a wonderful thing because it is the first operating system to run on any hardware platform. That means it can do for business applications what the Internet did for networking and communications— deliver on the promise of truly open, interoperable, any-to-any computing.
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2. It alters the way our industry delivers value to its customers (which is very good news for IBM).
A lot of people who have played by one set of rules in this industry are going to find out they’re now playing a different game. The widespread adoption of Linux is going to neutralize any vendor’s ability to exercise control— over customers or software developers—based on that vendor’s proprietary operating system. When applications are no longer lashed to a specific operating platform, control and choice shift away from the technology company, and into the hands of customers. This makes possible an equally seismic shift in the way value is delivered—through services, through middleware, through servers.
