IBM Archive

Is open source changing the way that software is made? It is at IBM. BetaNews sat down with Doug Heintzman, IBM Software Group's VP of Strategy and Technology, to discuss the adoption of a hybrid development model called Community Source that combines the best elements of the open source model with decades of IBM programming practice - avoiding a top down approach that IBM says could make Microsoft's Longhorn obsolete upon arrival.

According to this Computerworld report, industry hype surrounding Microsoft's decision to go with IBM's Power processors over Intel for its next generation Xbox, won't translate into Windows for Power servers in the near future, despite a pledge by IBM to support the operating system.

Interested in tuning your C/C++ applications for Linux on POWER? This article compares the optimization options for both Linux on POWER C/C++ compilers: GCC and IBM XL C/C++. This paper also reviews tactics, such as Interprocedural Analysis, Profile Directed Feedback, and High Order Transformations, which are used by one or both of the compilers to extract higher performance from the Power architecture.

IBM is planning to introduce what could be the largest corporate blogging initiative so far, in a bid to encourage its 320,000 staff to become more active in online tech communities. While other companies are frantically trying to prevent their employees from maintaining blogs, IBM seems to have realized the potential benefit that thousands of in-house bloggers could bring to promoting its products and services.

Learn about binary compatibility as it relates to the different operating environments that run on Linux on POWER. Learn about new technologies that can provide performance enhancements for a Linux on POWER apps, and follow steps to ensure binary compatibility across multiple distributions in the future.

The IBM Performance Simulator for Linux on POWER is a suite of performance models based on IBM's POWER series of processors. Users of Linux on POWER will be able to examine how their code executes on various IBM POWER processors so that they can identify and avoid common performance hazards on these processors.

IBM is not only discontinuing support for Intel's Itanium processor in a new generation of server technology, it's going a step further, dropping Itanium servers from the product line altogether, sources familiar with the situation said.

IBM has quietly added a new option to the suddenly vogue market for "hypervisor" software that lets a computer run multiple operating systems simultaneously, CNET News.com has learned.

IBM releases XL C/C++ ( a high-performance optimizing compiler ) to Linux developers. XL C/C++ provides high compile and execution performance, parallel programming APIs, memory management debug routines, and runtime dynamic linking.

For the curious x86 Linux user, emulation is a convenient and inexpensive alternative. There are at least three open source PowerPC emulators available, two of which are quite new.

Although IBM's open-source support is no money-maker, it does serve as a deft weapon to undermine Microsoft's markets. Bob Sutor is the VP of IBM Standards. Go here to see his other comments and his extensive list of links to articles on the subject from all the major developer and business publications.

IBM has decided to let open-source developers use 500 software patents without fear of an infringement lawsuit, a new step in its encouragement of the collaborative programming philosophy.

IBM has sold it's PC unit to Chinese computer maker Levono on Tuesday. The deal is valued at $1.75 billion. Here's the word from IBM itself. In a press release, IBM says this deal will create the world's third-largest PC business.

Word is that IBM is seeking to sell off its PC business. The company is said to be in talks with Lenovo. IBM could get between $1 and $2 billion for its PC unit. The company wants to focus on the more lucrative enterprise and server solutions.