INTERVIEW

“Linux is ideal for mission-critical applications”

Mary Ann Fisher, programme director, Linux, IBM Enterprise Systems Group talks to Prashant L Rao about leading edge deployments on Linux and IBM’s involvement with the open-source OS

* The recent Munich deal is an example of Linux gaining popularity on government desktops. Is IBM involved in any other initiatives on these lines?

IBM is involved in a number of desktop initiatives. Schwaebisch Hall in Germany is implementing a system with IBM and SuSE. [The city is switching its 300 desktop computers and 15 servers to Linux]. The city of Munich intends to migrate desktops to Linux and other open source software. We are working with them as they define that strategy. While desktop strategies are significant around the world, market success in open source software/Linux in public and private sector has largely been server-based.

* Linux used to be restricted to edge-of-network duties such as file and print and messaging or Web and intranet servers. Has Linux’s role broadened?

In the industrial segment, Linux has been adopted in the EDA space. In financial services, it is used for end-user banking, algorithmic and analytical work (derivative analysis and risk portfolio assessment). Linux is used for file and print and Web services, application servers and edge-of-network in all sectors. Fundamental communications infrastructure uses carrier-grade Linux. SMEs use it to run ERP, CRM and SCM applications. Linux is big in education, R&D and administration. In healthcare, it’s moving into patient care, record management and other administrative applications. In life sciences there’s a huge boom in drug discovery tools that are taking years off the development lifecycle by expediting tooling and simulation. There’s significant adoption in government where it is used for sophisticated applications in e-governance, document management of passports and visas, Web-based ticketing and reservation services, smart card management, online learning, business intelligence and data warehousing applications. There are significant implications in nationwide messaging, workflow management and collaborative computing. Over 4,700 application providers deliver commercial products on Linux. Improvements in scalability, reliability, security and file management over the last two years have made it a platform for mission-critical, real-time applications.

* The public sector appears to be the biggest adopter of Linux in many ways. Can you tell us about some significant Linux deployments in this segment?

The government of Japan has deployed a 2,200-node Linux cluster, the largest supercomputer on Linux. The Chinese government runs its portal service, a process automation and intranet system on thousands of Linux systems. The National Digital Mammography Archive, a bio-grid at the University of Pennsylvania, helps speed up diagnosis of breast cancer for women in the US. The project helps track the progress of mammograms and expedites the flow of information from clinics to experts and lets them speed up diagnosis and get people out of public health faster. The architecture includes Unix, Linux and Windows. The back-end analysis runs on Unix systems, Linux is used to run the grid while end-users run Windows. The University of Pennsylvania also uses Linux to expedite the analysis of HIV patients’ DNA. What used to take days now gets done in hours. This analysis lets physicians come up with prescription drug cocktails to keep HIV patients from getting AIDS.

As Linux becomes more reliable we are seeing it move into the data management and transaction workload space. Regione Lazio (the government for the five million people living in the area surrounding Rome) uses Linux for weather forecasting, press releases and payment systems. In Brazil, the government in Sao Paulo hosts its online learning system for K-12 children on Linux. Analysts believe that Linux has passed the tipping point and walked its way into the mainstream. This is a movement across the board in developing and developed countries. India, China, US, Germany and Brazil are some key adopters.

* IBM invested a billion dollars in Linux a few years back. What’s the current level of involvement?

We invested a billion dollars in Linux in 2001. IBM has 500 engineers actively working on Linux. We have 250 developers worldwide who do nothing but work on the Linux kernel. 18-20 of these are in Bangalore.