PowerLinux

PowerLinux is the combination of a Linux-based operating system (OS) running on IBM Power Architecture technology. It is often used in reference, along with Linux on Power, to Linux running on POWER-based systems from IBM and it is the name of several Linux-only Power Systems.

PowerLinux is the result of uniting high-performing Power Architecture with the open-source Linux OS. The combination produces a customizable system capable of handling large quantities of data more efficiently without the need for additional hardware. IBM POWER processor-based systems offer reliability, availability and serviceability characteristics that are not commonly found in server families running the Linux OS and provide mission-critical applications a higher level of support than other 32- or 64-bit Linux environments. PowerLinux systems include PowerVM virtualization built into the system. PowerVM is designed to pool resources and optimize their use across multiple application environments and operating system instances. This increases server efficiency by creating higher utilization per core and more throughput per server.

In the late 1990s, IBM began considering the Linux operating system for its potential for open innovation. In 2000, IBM announced it would embrace Linux as strategic to its systems strategy. In 2001, IBM invested $1 billion to back the Linux movement, embracing it as an operating system for IBM servers and software. Within a decade, Linux could be found in virtually every IBM business, geography and workload, and continues to be deeply embedded in IBM hardware, software, services and internal development.

IBM is consistently among the top commercial contributors of Linux code. A survey released by the Linux Foundation in April 2012 showed IBM as the fifth-leading commercial contributor over the past seven years, with more than 600 developers involved in more than 100 open-source projects.

IBM established the Linux Technology Center (LTC) in 1999 to combine its software developers interested in Linux and other open-source software into a single organization. The LTC collaborated with the Linux community to make Linux run optimally on PowerPC, x86, and more recently, the Cell Broadband Engine. Developers in the LTC contribute to various open-source projects as well as projects focused on enabling Linux to use new hardware functions on IBM platforms.

...
Wikipedia