Big Blue brings Linux to the masses

This week IBM has opened up one of its enormous zSeries mainframes to the public, giving users free access across the internet to the Linux operating system.

Big Blue has opened up one of its 10 processor zSeries powerhouses, which allow users to set up a virtual server account on which to run Linux applications.

The Linux Community Development System [LCDS] opens users up to a TurboLinux or Suse Linux environment on an S/390 platform with 10 processors and 32 gigabytes of memory. The machine is equipped with 2.1 terabytes of storage, enough for 1000 simultaneous users.

IBM said that the purpose of the project was to "provide the Open Source community with a platform to develop, port and/or test drive your products or applications on this platform."

The company anticipates that a majority of users will include entrepreneur developers and vendors that otherwise might not have the opportunity to test or port their code to the S/390 platform. But the project is also open to anyone just interested in using Linux.

The LCDS project is part of IBM's big push into the Linux arena this year, supported by a $1bn cash injection for Linux development. While users get access to middleware packages and Linux, IBM will get test data on how people are using mainframes to run applications and host content.

For more information or to sign up for LCDS, click here.