News
Websphere Comes to Linux
Confirming its devotion to the Linux platform, IBM Corp. made available a version of theWebsphere application server for the open-source operating system. WebsphereCommerce Suite V5.1, a version for creating e-commerce sites, now operates onIntel-based Linux.Websphere Commerce is written in pure Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) running atop the Websphere application server. It provides basiccommerce site functionality such as shopping carts and payment managers, aswell as more esoteric technical needs.
Version 5.1 is the first version to be written entirelyin Java. “[Enterprises] have to change as fast as their business changes,” saysScott Handy, director of worldwide Linux solutions marketing at IBM. The Java support allows developers to morequickly update applications for changing conditions. This is not the first release of Websphere Commerce forLinux. IBM has already released the product for mainframe Linux, but is nowbringing it to the Intel platform. “It’s the only time the mainframe versioncame before the Intel version,” Handy says.
IBM is trying to push mainframe Linux as a platform forthe application server by pricing the mainframe version the same as the Intelversion. Users can harness the power of the mainframe at the same cost as anIntel server, offering enterprises the ability to save money with a biggermachine. –Chris McConnell