How committed is IBM to the open-source movement? Officially, IBM is the worlds loudest promoter of open-source software, spending millions to run Linux advertisements and fund an open-source development lab, and devoting hundreds of its own programmers to cranking out open-source code.
So it is strange, rivals say, that in the field, IBMs sales reps are battling to keep some customers from moving to Linux and other open-source programs–especially customers currently using AIX, IBMs pricey Unix-based operating system. According to market research firm IDC, IBM in 2003 took in $180 million in revenue from AIX.