IBM: Linux investment nearly recouped

[Warren Togami]

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-825723.html

NEW YORK--IBM nearly recouped the $1 billion it said it invested in the
Linux operating system in 2001, the head of IBM's four server groups is
expected to announce Wednesday.
Big Blue said more than a year ago that it would invest $1 billion in
Linux--spending money on tasks such as bringing the Unix clone to its full
line of servers, bringing its broad software portfolio to Linux, training
its services and consulting personnel, and placing advertisements such as
full-page ads in major daily newspapers.

"We've recouped most of it in the first year in sales of software and
systems," Bill Zeitler, head of the server group, said in an interview
before his keynote speech Wednesday at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.
"We think it was money well spent. Almost all of it, we got back."

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