From Mainframe to Open Mainframe (IBM)

The nonprofit organization, (The Linux Foundation) and IBM dedicated to boosting up the Linux and collaborative software growth, announced the OMP (Open Mainframe Project) at LinuxCon. With the announcement of new initiatives for the adoption of wider Linux at the enterprise level, IBM breathes new life into its open mainframe strategy. The mainframe is well and alive with Linux running via its circuits. The Open Mainframe Project’s founding Platinum members include SUSE, IBM, CA technologies and ADP.

This news is not at all surprising as since the year 2000, IBM has powered its z Series mainframe with Linux. No doubt, long after the mainframe’s critics had written its obituary, Linux is has enabled it to continue to be a living force in computing.

This is because together Linux and big iron are successful at delivering the services needed today by enterprises. These include:

  • Virtualization
  • Cloud computing
  • Mobile processing
  • Big Data

Venders, academia and users needed a neutral forum to work together for increasing enterprise innovation and advancing Linux technologies and tools to make sure mainframe and the Linux continue to thrive and ‘OMP’ is that forum.

The Open Mainframe Project members are going to concentrate on leveraging new Linux tools and software that can take benefit of the mainframe’s availability, scalability, speed and security. The OMP will seek to considerably broaden the set of resources and tools that are intended to drive collaboration and development of mainframe Linux. Moreover, the OCP will also intend to coordinate improvements in mainframe to upstream projects, to ease upstream collaboration and for enhancing the quality of these code submissions.

Particularly, IBM will enable programs, including Chef, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Node.js and Apache Spark on z Systems to provide customers with flexibility and open-source choice for hybrid cloud deployments.

The IBM’s senior of IBM Systems, Mr.Tom Rosamilia stated, “IBM surprised the industry 15 years ago, by putting Linux on the mainframe, and today over a third mainframe clients of IBM are running Linux.”

He further added that by combining the most advanced system in the world and best of the open world they are deepening their commitment to the open-source community in order to help customers embrace new hybrid cloud and mobile workloads and they will keep on pushing the limits beyond the commodity server capabilities that are not programmed for performance and security at extreme scale.

The executive director of the Linux Foundation, Jim Zemlin also added that currently, in the whole world, Linux is the best ever growing operating system and as cloud computing and mobile has become globally invasive, new levels of efficiency, competence and speed are needed in the Linux and ‘enterprise on the mainframe’ is ready to deliver. He also said that the OMP (Open Mainframe Project) is going to bring the best technology leaders together to work on advanced technologies and Linux from across the academia and IT industry to advance the most complicated enterprise operations of their time.

For more details, refer the official website: