IBM adds new Linux centers

IBM has added several new centers worldwide devoted to Linux specialties in energy, government and mainframes, part of its years-long effort to widely spread the operating system.

In the United Arab Emirates, the Energy Competency Center will be devoted to helping the oil and gas industry use Linux for tasks such as oil and gas exploration. In Germany, the E-government Center will support IBM's contract with the German government, and the Integration Center will support retail, manufacturing and financial services customers. And in Brazil, the Linux Labs will work on translating Linux software for IBM's high-end mainframe line.

There also are several new Asian centers, including the China-IBM Linux Solution Cooperation Center in Beijing, which has 150 IBM-funded researchers; the Linux Hub Center of Seoul National university in Korea; and the Open Computing Center at the Nanyang Polytechnic Center in Singapore.

The centers join one that IBM opened for financial services customers in June 2002. IBM also opened a new financial services center in London.

Linux caught on at financial services companies such as Morgan Stanley. One element that appeals is the fact that Linux is very similar to the Unix operating system that's been popular among Wall Street companies for years.