Open Sourcery: Marquee Brands Tout Open Source

In show business, it's the big-name stars on the marquee that put butts in seats. In business software, it's often the big brand names that bring sales and recognition. Open-source software was once the antithesis of brand names, a community project where everyone shared in the fruits of their labor. But brand names such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Computer Associates, and Oracle are helping IT shops overcome their fears about taking a chance on open-source software.

In their two separate user conferences, BEA Systems and CA made waves with big open-source initiatives. BEA laid out its plans to open source the controls for its Java-development tool, WebLogic Workshop, which will help programmers create Web services that work with Amazon, eBay, FedEx, UPS, and others. BEA wants to bring a unified programming model to Java development so developers don't have to learn a new model for each vendor in order to build apps.

CA had been talking the open-source talk for some time, but started really walking the walk at its CAWorld conference, last week, in Las Vegas. Most impressive of all, the company offered the code for its Ingres database to the open-source community. CA also integrated its KGEM (kernel generalized event manager) into Linux, expanded its BrightStor document-management solution with open-source software from Plone, and even unveiled its own open-source reciprocal license, CA-TOSL (Trusted Open Source License), similar to that of Apache.

Why should these companies embrace open source? It pays. Novell found out with a financial turnaround last quarter"a $10 million profit"thanks, in part, to its recent purchases of Linux software firms SuSE and Ximian. Novell plans to unveil a Linux desktop product, called Sundance, some time in the fourth quarter.

InformationWeek found that nearly 70 percent of business-technology pros were now using Linux, up from 56 percent a year ago. And when Gartner tallied up relational-database sales for 2003, the overall market was up slightly, while Linux databases were up 158 percent"with Oracle leading the way, with 69 percent of that portion of the market. That ain't just show business"that's real business.

New BEA Developer Resources Include Open Source Tools - Linux Pipeline
Included in the new offerings are free, open-source controls for the WebLogic Workshop development tool.

CA Charges Into Open Source - - Linux Pipeline
Unveils its own open-source software license, offers up its Ingres database code to the open-source community, integrates KGEM technology into Linux, and more.

Business Users Embrace Open Source - Linux Pipeline
Linux and Apache now run key systems, and a new generation of open-source applications competes with commercial and proprietary offerings.

Linux Database Market Growing - Linux Pipeline
The Linux market posted huge gains, albeit off a small base, growing 158 percent to $300 million in new license revenue, from $116 million in 2002

Linux Drives Novell Into The Black - Linux Pipeline
Company officials attribute much of the rebound to the ability to provide customers with a clear migration message.

Network Associates Unveils Linux Anti-Virus - Linux Pipeline
Based on the company's McAfee virus scanning engine, LinuxShield scans for viruses, worms, and other malicious code that can threaten Linux systems.

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Linux TCO: Fact Or Fiction? - Server Pipeline
Oracle's Infrastructure Now Fully Linux-ized - InformationWeek

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