Open Source? WHY NOT s390x in your efforts? Part 2.
From my last posting…
…Write for a platform that has better performance, security, and sustainability for the future of our planet and you’re hitting win-win-win all the way around. There are 3 huge reasons why it just makes sense:
- Performance: IBM mainframes are known for their scalability and performance. In particular, the s390x architecture provides excellent support for large-scale data processing and analytics workloads. By supporting s390x-based Linux systems, open source communities can take advantage of this performance to run their software faster and more efficiently (discussed in previous blog.)
- Market share: While IBM mainframes may not be as widely used as other computing platforms, they still have a significant presence in certain industries, such as finance and healthcare. By supporting s390x-based Linux systems, open source communities can tap into this market and reach a wider audience (discussed in this blog.)
- Diversity: One of the strengths of the open source community is its diversity. By supporting a wide range of computing platforms, including s390x-based Linux systems, open source communities can ensure that their software is accessible to as many people as possible (will be the topic of my next blog.)
This post discusses how Linux has become a major player in enterprise computing, with IBM’s contributions being a key driver of its success. IBM believes that Linux is the future of enterprise computing, and its acquisition of Red Hat is evidence of this belief. The company has invested heavily in the IBM zSystems s390x platform, which offers high performance, security, and sustainability for Linux computing.
The platform has become increasingly popular among customers who are adopting Linux at a rapid pace, thanks to its ability to speed up software development. IBM has been pushing Linux on the platform to bring cost savings and lower development efforts for Linux-based software to the market.
With IBM’s zSystems computers estimated to power over 90% of the world’s financial transactions, there is a significant opportunity for Linux software development companies and open-source communities to tap into this single market for very large returns on their efforts in terms of successful adoption of their products and projects.
Developing software for this market can provide access to a large and important customer base across all the other aspects of enterprise computing needs across all kinds of industries and user bases as well. It’s this part that drives that question I asked, why wouldn’t you go for s390x architecture support while you’re building your product?
And for these projects, IBM is there. With the previously mentioned IBM Community Cloud and by collaborating with other developers and users in the enterprise computing community, open source projects can create better software solutions with IBM’s help, leading to increased innovation, better code quality, and more effective problem-solving. These relationships can help open source projects grow and expand their capabilities in the future for those who find themselves with members and believers of IBM’s open source development in their projects.
The s390x architecture’s high performance, open-source nature, and massive market share make it an ideal platform for software development, especially for Linux software development. It’s a great idea for Linux software development companies and open-source communities to explore this market and take advantage of the opportunities it presents. If I can be of any inspiration for your open source project or help you to draw some lines to the resources I have mentioned in my blogs, don’t hesitate to reach out.
