NYTimes.com Article: Some I.B.M. Software Tools to Be Put in Public Domain

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Some I.B.M. Software Tools to Be Put in Public Domain

November 5, 2001 

By STEVE LOHR


 

I.B.M. (news/quote) plans to announce today that it is
placing $40 million of its software tools in the public
domain as the first step toward founding an open-source
organization for developers. 

The move is the latest step in International Business
Machines (news/quote)' embrace of the open-source software
model, in which programmers around the world share software
code for joint development and debugging. In the last few
years, I.B.M. has made big bets on the two major
open-source projects, the Apache Web server and the GNU
Linux operating system. 

The new open-source organization, called Eclipse, will
focus on the programming tools used to build applications
and other software. More than 150 software companies, from
Linux distributors like Red Hat and SuSE to applications
developers like Rational and Bow Street, are lined up to
join the Eclipse community. 

The group plans to establish a governing board later this
month, to guide the technical standards and work of the
open-source software tools community. I.B.M. will be one of
several board members of the Eclipse organization. 

"Somebody had to start it, but this is absolutely not an
I.B.M.-controlled thing," said Scott Hebner, an I.B.M.
software marketing executive. 

Traditionally, the standards for software development tools
have been supplied by the companies with leading operating
systems including Microsoft (news/quote)'s Windows, Sun
Microsystems (news/quote)' Solaris or I.B.M.'s mainframe
operating systems. 

Yet Eclipse, analysts say, is a break from the proprietary
pattern, and it is coming at a crucial juncture for the
industry. The Internet is evolving beyond a medium for
viewing Web pages and downloading information and
entertainment. Instead, the Internet is in effect becoming
the equivalent of an operating system - a technology
"platform," on which programs can be run and built. 

New software technologies like Java, the Internet
programming language, and XML, a standard for identifying
and interpreting information sent over the Internet, are
making the evolution possible. And the transition opens the
door to a new level of Internet use, from automating online
transactions between companies to developing an array of
personalized services for individuals. 

The potential new uses, made possible by software, are
being called Web services. The industry sees Web services
as an important new avenue of growth. Major companies
including I.B.M., Microsoft and others are eager to develop
the new business, and they are all trying to woo developers
to their respective camps. 

"I.B.M. understands that whoever has the most developers,
wins," said James Governor, an analyst at Illuminata, a
research firm. "With Eclipse, I.B.M. is making a very
aggressive move. It is betting that opening up the software
tools ecosystem will work to its advantage." 

The move, to be sure, is an attempt to play to I.B.M.'s
strength and away from its weakness. Microsoft's Windows
and Sun's Solaris version of Unix are the leading
proprietary operating systems. I.B.M. has backed Linux,
whose code is distributed free, partly because Linux's
ascent would work to the detriment of both Microsoft and
Sun. 

I.B.M. considers it a worthwhile investment to place in the
public domain software tools that it spent $40 million to
develop, seeing the move as one that further undermines the
leading operating system suppliers. I.B.M. wants to take
value away from the operating system layer of software and
make money mainly by selling specialized software
applications to companies and charging for services -
helping companies to integrate various kinds of information
technology to make businesses more productive. 

"This clearly plays to I.B.M.'s strengths and where our
customers want to go," said Steven A. Mills, an I.B.M.
senior vice president in charge of the software group.
"Customers do not want to be locked into one platform for
their information technology infrastructure, and developers
do not want to be locked into a single state of mind for
development." 

The name Eclipse was chosen to suggest that the open-source
approach will eclipse the proprietary development model. 

The software that I.B.M. is putting into Eclipse and into
the public domain include programming tools for debugging,
user interface work, editing and project management. The
tools employ Java and XML technology, and the intent of
Eclipse is to provide a choice of mix-and-match tools. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/05/technology/05OPEN.html?ex=1005953435&ei=1&en=7a7748ab2664e519



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