Penguins CAN fly...

His revolutionary decision to open his initial source code for public input and alteration was a dramatic departure from the typical proprietary product development model, as was the rapid and enthusiastic embrace of Linux by the software community.

Since then, the Penguin has gained momentum at rapid speed across the world, including the Middle East. The enthusiasm amongst early adopters has gained the weight of religious fervor among many Linux adherents seeking alternatives to existing proprietary solutions.

Linux has taken a seat in IT history with more business-focused minds beginning to recognize the pragmatic opportunity for Open Source Infrastructure Solutions.

The original promise behind Linux - a multi-platform UNIX-style offering that scales from PC desktops to main-frame computers - is now becoming a reality. Linux is proving a cost-effective and stable environment for deployment in Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) while ISV support for the desktop, middleware, and ebusiness is impressive and growing.

Companies are discovering that Linux represents a practical upgrade path for legacy UNIX solutions, as well as for their advanced application requirements.

Linux's appeal is spreading internationally also, with governments in countries such as Bahrain, Germany and the UK using it as their core infrastructure, thus lending Linux increasing credibility as a global IT solution that offers companies a secure development environment for business applications.

This, combined with growing support from a wide variety of IT vendors and ISVs, is helping articulate the bottom-line impact Linux affords organizations of every kind.

IBM is investing in Linux across the breadth of its product offerings, boosting its reputation as a global solutions provider. This should reassure customer concerns that Linux commitments are just passing phenomena.

True to one of Linux's signature characteristics, IBM offers virtually unlimited hardware scalability with Linux support across all of its eServer product families including xSeries (Intel), pSeries (POWER), iSeries (POWER), and zSeries (mainframe) architectures.

Since the Linux platform is not bound to a specific set of hardware, applications developed on the Intel architecture (for example) can be easily adapted for more powerful hardware as the need arises by simply recompiling software on the new hardware.

This provides organisations a well-defined Linux growth path on well-established IBM hardware solutions.

Linux support has also become an important component of IBM's flagship middleware and software offerings, including WebSphere, DB2, Tivoli, Lotus and more.

Given Linux's capacity for gluing together densely clustered heterogeneous IT solutions, such as grid (a network of servers with each contributing resources to a given workload) and/or High Performance Computing (HPC) environments, middleware support for Linux is a notably strategic effort by IBM.

In this same spirit, IBM's On Demand initiative provides dynamic scaling of IT resources within the company and provides increased flexibility and computing capabilities for organisations looking to consolidate IT effort while embracing Linux.

IBM has also developed a notable track record of participation in influential Open Source organizations, affirming the company's desire and commitment to contribute to Linux's development through the Open Source community. In the Middle East, it has established a large Cairo-based development team to work on Arabic support for Linux.

The team in Egypt has successfully adapted the core operating system components that are necessary to make Linux capable of handling Arabic properly, set standards and put it into the hands of the open source community. ARABIC SUPPORT ON LINUX

IBM's embrace of Open Source and its support for Linux solutions across the breadth of its product offerings, assures the once upstart operating system a place in its own and the IT market's long-term business software vision.

The potential of Linux-based solutions is a strategic competitive issue for organizations in this region and IBM is harnessing this and channeling it into sustainable business solutions.

Given the cost competitive nature of today's economic climate, organisations that take advantage of the inherent cost savings afforded by Linux-based solutions have the potential to harness significant business value and competitive advantage.

For those that are pondering a long-term business investment, Linux migration warrants serious consideration.