Red Hat and IBM will join forces to help software
suppliers certify their applications for Linux.
The programme is designed to make it easier for suppliers to
migrate their software to Linux, and will also give IBM and Red Hat
a boost by enlarging the pool of applications certified to run on
Red Hat Enterprise Linux with IBM hardware and middleware.
ISV (independent software vendor) certification has become more
important as Linux has moved further into the enterprise, since
certifications allow businesses to ensure a particular package will
run on their platform. However, because each Linux distribution is
slightly different from the next, it is necessary for ISVs to
certify for each distribution separately.
Red Hat already has sales and support deals with the major
server makers - IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems -
but so far certification has been left largely to individual
ISVs.
Under the joint Linux ISV Certification Support Programme, IBM
and Red Hat will play a more active role, with Red Hat providing
technology and support services and IBM giving partners access to
its Innovation Centers for Business Partners, which provide
services such as on-site or remote support during application
porting.
IBM has Innovation Centers in Hursley, England; Moscow, Russia;
Paris, France; and Stuttgart, Germany as part of a broader $1bn
(£525m) initiative to provide partners with training, migration and
testing services. The company said it has 4,700 business partners
supporting Linux-enabled IBM software.
One target market will be geophysics companies such as the oil
industry, where Linux has become increasingly popular. Fugro-Jason
CIS, which carries out geological surveys, recently completed
porting its software using an IBM eServer Cluster 1350 and Linux at
IBM's Moscow Innovation Center, according to Fugro-Jason director
Vadim Khromov.
Other Linux suppliers have tried to simplify ISV certification
by eliminating some of the differences between distributions, so
that a certification for one distribution is valid for others.
One effort in this direction was UnitedLinux, whose members
agreed to base their platforms on the distribution from Novell's
SuSE division. That effort fell apart after one member - The SCO
Group - turned into a Linux foe.
Last month, some of UnitedLinux's former members formed the
Linux Core Consortium, which aims to create a binary implementation
of the Linux Standard Base (LSB) 2.0, an effort to standardise some
of Linux's workings. The LCC's members are Conectiva, Mandrakesoft,
Progeny Linux Systems and Turbolinux; Red Hat and SuSE have not
joined but pledged their support.
Some prominent industry figures have argued that such
cross-distribution programmes should be the way forward, rather
than certifications for individual Linux suppliers.
When Sun launched its first Linux server two years ago, chief
executive Scott McNealy said, "We need to force the world to LSB
compliance, not Red Hat or IBM compliance."
IBM intends to promote "a non-proprietary, multiplatform
approach to implementing open standards", said Lesley Norris,
director of ISV and developer relations for IBM Europe.
"Linux is central to this strategy and our collaboration with
Red Hat ensures that business partners can benefit from our joint
commitment to open-source solutions."
Matthew Broersma writes for Techworld.com