More than just an operating system, Linux has become a movement leading the open-source charge.

Written by Chris Smith

When IBM consolidated its midrange server platform in 2008, it was perceived largely as a convergence of the System i and System p, or AIX, operating systems onto a single hardware platform. The fact that Power Systems would also run Linux appeared as a somewhat gratuitous concession to the growing worldwide interest in open-source software, a trend that was a polar opposite to IBM's traditional proprietary architectures. More than three years later, Linux has emerged as the next up-and-coming star, its presence quietly creeping into embedded systems everywhere and onto enterprise servers in the world's largest organizations.

Finding the apps you want or need used to be challenging. Not anymore!

Written by Barry L. Kline

I have been writing about the benefits of Linux in business for over a decade. Web serving (simple pages and Web services), spam control, email distribution, integration with a Windows network—these are all fairly trivial to implement. UNIX and UNIX-like (e.g., Linux) operating systems have been handling infrastructure tasks since the early '80s, and for many IT managers, this long history has led to the typecasting of UNIX, in the same vein as Leonard Nimoy is typecast as his famous "Spock" character. This isn't to say that UNIX holds the same position in scientific circles, where it has historically been the operating system of choice for servers and workstations. But for the business types who typically use the iSeries in a network with Windows desktops, *nix is just part of the plumbing, much like our i5 is plumbing to the kids coming into IT who think that the world revolves around Microsoft. (Yeah, I'm old enough to call 'em kids).

It might be time to give this idea some serious consideration.

Written by Barry L. Kline

MSDOS begat Windows 1.0, which begat Windows 2.0, which begat Windows 3.0, which begat Windows 3.1, which begat Windows 95, which begat Windows 98, which begat Windows ME, which begat Windows NT, which begat Windows 2000, which begat Windows XP, which begat Windows Vista, and the list goes on.

Follow these simple steps and avoid the gotchas!

By Tom Snyder

On my home computer, I am using Ubuntu Linux 8.10. Being an RPG programmer, I could not do this if I did not have a 5250 emulator to use. Fortunately, there are several viable options out there. In a previous TechTip, I discussed some options for operating systems that you may be supporting. In this article, I will get more hands-on by exploring the details of installing System i Access on Linux.

Forget that proprietary network hardware.

By Barry L. Kline

Ask a thousand computing professionals what company name is synonymous with networking, and I'd wager that the vast majority would reply "Cisco." That Cisco has that kind of mind share must be very gratifying to its marketing department. While I can't argue that Cisco makes some very fine networking equipment--it obviously does--I'm not as enthused about the licensing under which the equipment is delivered. I can re-sell the hardware, but the embedded software is licensed, thus making the resale value of the equipment relatively worthless. To me, the cachet of the Cisco name is not worth the price, particularly if you keep in mind that the protocols used to deliver packets from one network to another are standard stuff. Because of the cost, building a Cisco-equipped lab with which you can study networking is outside the budget of most IT professionals.