IBM, allies to offer open-source PCs in Eastern Europe

Slashdot It! IBM has teamed up with partners in Austria and Poland to offer Microsoft-free personal computers for the Eastern European market, Big Blue said in a statement. IBM is offering the PCs based on the open-source Linux operating system together with Red Hat software distributor VDEL of Austria and Polish distributor and services firm LX Polska in response to requests from Russian IT chiefs. The PCs will include IBM's Lotus Symphony software based on the Open Document Format, a rival format to Microsoft's Office Open XML document format, which the latter is trying to get adopted as an ISO internationally approved standard. IBM, which has sold its PC business to China's Lenovo, said the hardware would be made by partners of VDEL and LX Polska. Russia, where many large corporations and public-service bodies are building large computer systems for the first time, is emerging as a key battleground between Microsoft and rivals offering open-source alternatives. Via Cnet Get Daily Updates via Email Protect your computer with Windows Onecare Get paid $7.50 for reviewing my post