RSSWall Street still likes Linux, but for new reasons
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published April 1, 2008, 5:19 PM
Of all of the industies deploying Linux and open source software, financial services have been among the earliest adopters. But what do banks and brokerages see in these emerging alternatives besides possibly lower up-front costs?
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - A few years ago, financial services firms tended to point to low cost and customizability of components as their major reasons for turning to Linux and open source. But at the Linux/Open Source on Wall Street show today, panelists devoted more of their remarks to topics such as multi-OS server consolidation on mainframes and creating realtime Linux applications for PC servers, aptly reflecting the growing complexity of software environments in financial firms and elsewhere.
Citigroup, for instance, now plans to add Linux applications to a set of "core" Unix and mainframe apps recently consolidated on an IBM Z10 server, said Aaron Graves, the bank's senior VP for architecture and technology engineering, in a panel session.
Meanwhile, for his part, Head Bubba, VP of IT research and development for Credit Suisse, said that he is working on realtime Linux applications for traders.
Citigroup's Graves told the audience that, regardless of which platform an application is running on -- and regardless of whether it's "open source" or not -- what's most important to him is that it's well supported on the technical side by the software vendor or distributor.
Speaking with BetaNews later, however, Graves said that, in his opinion, the main benefit of Linux right now is that Linux appllications will run -- either virtualized, or not -- on virtually any hardware system, including X86 PCs and mainframes.
Credit Suisse's Bubba, meanwhile, views the main benefit of Linux as lying in its wealth of real-time applications.
Almost by definition, real-time applications are "deterministic," meaning that developers can more easily specify behavior and support service-level agreement (SLA) compliance, according to Keith Bright, another speaker. But realtime applications have traditionally suffered from a performance hit.
Over the past few years, the two major Linux OS distributors -- Red Hat and Novell -- have each added support for realtime applications, noted Bright, who is program director of IBM's Linux Technology Center.
Bubba, however, said that Credit Suisse is working on ways of coding Linux real-time applications so that performance isn't reduced.
Hey this is 1st April story guys.... feel sorry for linux lovers:) its just a joke
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More great news for Linux. Its good to see it.
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As an avid free and open source supporter, I am glad to see that Linux is being implemented in the corporate world.
I think more companies share Graves' view of not caring if it's open source or not, as long as the software is supported by a vendor and is able to operate well.
I hope to see other distributors besides Red Hat and Novell get some more backing on Wall Street, but that probably is a rant for an entirely different day...
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RedHat based servers run most of our corporate applications, MSFT servers run our user networl and Exchange.
Both have their uses. I don't see MSFT being able to handle the equipment or flexibility requirements of our corporate application infrastructure, and using linux to manage our user/machine network is like using a fleet of tanks to pull a trailer. Sure, it'd work, but it wouldn't make much sense.
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And he's not joking folks. He actually wrote that — Linux is like a fleet of tanks. Please stick to saying silly things about Microsoft, something you think you know about. The real story is: Want to make money in business and save on IT at the same time? Use GNU/Linux (open source apps); i.e., not Microsoft products.
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Your complete lack of creativity does not surprise me in the least.
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"Head Bubba?" This is an April Fools joke right?
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If not, he sure has a legitimate reason to seek a legal name change.
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Are you kidding? That's the best name I've heard in a *long* time.
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I don't think it is. Google "Head Bubba Credit Suisse" and you'll find him.
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The joke must be "Wall Street still likes Linux" then.
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Why's that a joke?
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He is because of his ignorance.
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It's called satire, but lost on you obviously.
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It's not. I used to work at CS, and I've met the guy.
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I love how this guy is so condescending with something he is totally wrong about.
Priceless.
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