Monday, August 21, 2006

Does Open Source matter? It does to IBM and HP.

Do you know someone in IT that thinks Open Source doesn't matter? You may want to point them to this article from the Motley Fool and have them think again. The Open Source movement is BIG business. Just ask IBM or HP.

IBM, since 2001, has invested $1 Billion in Linux. It is the biggest open source corporate backer. However, it's also worth taking a note of activities at HP. HP is within striking distance of replacing IBM as the largest technology company. HP is taking an interesting "Switzerland" neautral approach supporting both Microsoft, and Open Source. I noticed that not only are they supporting Red Hat and Novell but there was also an announcement at LinuxWorld that HP is also offering Debian Linux support.

It appears to me that IBM and HP are competing and it's the Open Source movement that will give these large corporations the edge.

Read this Motley Fool article: IBM opens the Open-Source Floodgates

IBM opens the Open-Source Floodgates