Monterey Project Builders Optimistic

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April 07, 1999 (4:42 PM EDT)

By Mo Krochmal,

Executives leading IBM's Monterey project said Wednesday that they welcome the increasing popularity of the Linux operating system as its own effort for a more open variant of Unix gains momentum.

IBM, along with the Santa Cruz Operation and Sequent Computer Systems, Wednesday offered an update on the progress of Monterey project, which began last October. Compaq also on Wednesday announced support for the effort to develop a new "open" version of Unix for Intel's next-generation IA-64 chips. The new Unix version would combine features from each developers' own Unix variant into a single product targeted for large-scale corporate use. The Monterey project would run on Intel 32- and 64-bit chips as well as IBM's PowerPC architecture.

"We have achieved our milestones and have made enormous progress," said Rajiv Samant, general manager of Unix for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM. He also said the Monterey project is on schedule and due out later this year.

The work on this project comes as Linux, another variant of Unix grows in importance in the corporate environment.

As part of the Monterey project, SCO's Unixware product has been updated to be compatible with certain Linux applications, said David McCrabb, executive vice president for world wide sales at Santa Cruz, Calif.-based SCO.

"We will take more advantage of it if it becomes more viable in data environments," McCrabb said.

Interest in Linux benefits all Unix vendors, said Dan McGee, senior director of business programs for Portland, Ore.-based Sequent.

"The people in colleges are pushing this technology forward," said McGee. "It's getting grassroots support just like Unix did when it started 30 years ago. It's just growing faster."

Samant of IBM said Linux is benefiting Unix in business computing.

"There is new excitement about driving applications and innovation using low-cost hardware," said Samant.

The Unix marketplace is divided into three parts, said Samant. The high-end is the segment that the Monterey project aims to serve, while Linux is aimed at the lower end, where it is used in applications like Web serving, Samant said.

"Monterey will feed off the Linux phenomena," he said. "Both environments will coexist."

Linux is a derivative of the Unix operating system and is being developed under the open source movement, where source code is made available to developers. Long respected for its stability, the Linux operating system, once considered a maverick technology, is rapidly being accepted in the corporate community.

On Wednesday, IDG, a research company, projected that commercial Linux shipments will grow faster than other operating systems.