Unisys signs up Linux allies

Unisys, a server maker that only recently caught the Linux bug, plans to announce on Wednesday a new partnership with business research software maker the SAS Institute. In addition, Unisys plans to unveil its membership in Open Source Development Labs, a prominent Linux consortium that includes the company's major rivals.

Under the partnership, Unisys and SAS will jointly sell a 64-bit version of software for Linux computers that lets companies mine data, such as customer purchasing habits, for useful information. The software will run on Unisys ES7000 servers using Intel Itanium 2 processors, Unisys said.