IBM launches biggest Linux lineup ever On March 2, at LinuxWorld, IBM announced support for Linux, the open-source operating system. The announcement, of planned key alliances, flagship products, and the industry's most comprehensive service offering, makes IBM the only company to provide complete solutions of hardware, software and technical support for Linux. The news includes: IBM will support major versions of Linux globally, giving customers a single point of contact for all of their technical support needs; IBM will work with four commercial distributors of Linux -- Caldera Systems Inc., Pacific HiTech Inc., Red Hat Software Inc., and SuSE Holding AG -- to pave the way for co-marketing, development, training and support initiatives that will help customers deploy Linux; Key IBM WebSphere products will ship later this year, including two application servers and a performance pack, enabling Linux customers to exploit the Web to perform tasks ranging from simple Web publishing to Java-based transactional processing; Availability of the industry's first commercial, Java-based emulator for Linux -- IBM Host On-Demand -- which provides secure access to core enterprise data and applications via a Web browser; IBM will begin beta testing, in the second quarter, its On-Demand Server for Linux, which manages access to e-business applications by users, groups, and devices ; IBM is working with the Linux community to port Linux to selected IBM RS/6000 models. According to IDC Research, Linux is the fastest-growing server operating environment. In 1998, some 750,000 Linux servers were installed, reflecting a 212 percent growth rate and 17 percent of all new server placements. To learn more about IBM's Linux initiatives, visit the Linux at IBM overview page (http://www.software.ibm.com/is/mp/linux). From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Mar 3 11:55:44 1999