IBM Going more opensource

[iago]

I know that IBM already produces a lot of opensource code (some students I go to school with worked on opensource IBM code for one of their workterms) -- but they're releasing a couple hundred of their patents to Open Source, which is pretty cool:
http://business.bostonherald.com/technologyNews/view.bg?articleid=63073

[EpicOfTimeWasted]

I appreciate what they're doing, but...

``This will help kick-start the whole open-source community,'' said Bob Sutor, vice president of standards for IBM.

I'm sorry, but they're not kick starting anything here.

[Mephisto]

Isn't IBM under completly new management?  I heard they were purchased in China by some company or people...

[Hitmen]

Isn't IBM under completly new management?  I heard they were purchased in China by some company or people...

They only sold their PC division.

[Mephisto]

Didn't know IBM had other things besides PCs.    Unless they're still marketing OS/2?

[hismajesty]

I appreciate what they're doing, but...

``This will help kick-start the whole open-source community,'' said Bob Sutor, vice president of standards for IBM.

I'm sorry, but they're not kick starting anything here.

Not many large companies produce open source code. Sun, Microsoft (somewhat), IBM, who else?

[iago]

I appreciate what they're doing, but...

``This will help kick-start the whole open-source community,'' said Bob Sutor, vice president of standards for IBM.

I'm sorry, but they're not kick starting anything here.

Not many large companies produce open source code. Sun, Microsoft (somewhat), IBM, who else?

Sun doesn't do much opensource, and neither does Microsoft.  IBM and Netscape (or whoeve owns Netscape) are the only ones I know of.

[R.a.B.B.i.T]

Isn't Sun releasing Solaris to open source soon?  That's what I heard, at least.

[iago]

I heard they were going to, dunno about that.

I forgot, Sun backs OpenOffice, which is a large project.

[quasi-modo]

novell does a lot of open source stuff too. They are behind suse, and they are running mono, so on and so fourth.

[iago]

Being backed by a large corperation isn't always good for opensource, though.  The corperation is a "Single point of failure" -- while most opensource stuff has an army of geeks on the Internet, any of whom could take over the project, corperate backed ones don't normally. 

But eh, any encouraging of opensource makes me happy

[quasi-modo]

Well no one owns mozilla, but their corperate backing goes towards finantial support for their small staff of full timers at mozilla hq to my knowlege.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

Didn't know IBM had other things besides PCs. Unless they're still marketing OS/2?

uh...their pc business is miniscule compared to their real market.

[j0k3r]

I would like to hear(or read?) about their other business, as I'm sure mephisto would. Would you care to explain it or provide an article?

[muert0]

http://www.ibm.com/products/us/