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HP-Compaq, IBM back Linux

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NEW YORK: Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive Carly Fiorina on Wednesday said

that its proposed merger with Compaq Computer Corp. will help the development of

the Linux operating system.

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In a speech during the annual Linuxworld trade show in New York, Fiorina told

a packed room that "this is a combination that's good for Linux."

The combined company will be stronger in enterprise computing, technology

services, personal computers and printing systems, enabling it to support and

develop better Linux-based solutions for customers, Fiorina said.

"One of the aspects of merging with Compaq that our customers find most

appealing, actually, is that we are both committed to driving adoption of Linux

on the Intel and Itanium platforms," Fiorina said.

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Meanwhile, the head of the server group at competitor IBM said that he

believes Linux is fundamentally changing the information technology landscape.

Intel Corp., a microprocessor maker, spent billions of dollars to develop the

Itanium chip, its first foray into 64-bit processors, which are used in

heavy-duty computers.

Linux is an "open source" operating system, meaning that unlike

software such as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating systems, anyone can change

the platform to meet his or her needs.

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HP's planned merger with Compaq has come under intense criticism by

investors, including members of the Hewlett and Packard families who say they

intend to vote their 18 percent stake against the planned combination.

Fiorina has been defending the merger since it was announced on Sept. 4 to

investors, customers, and employees. In the past two months, the company has

also launched an ad campaign to discredit the claims made by members of the

Hewlett and Packard families.

Fiorina, who spent most of the 40-minute speech discussing the merits of

Linux and touting the company's customers, which include Amazon.com and film

maker DreamWorks SKG, noted the intense debate with the HP family members on the

merger.

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"There are people who find change exciting. Others find it exhausting.

Some find it exhilarating. Others find it intimidating. Others know they will

gain from it. Some fear they will lose from it," she said.

Separately, an International Business Machines Corp. executive said that IT

companies are headed for change as Linux and other open systems, like data

storage management software, become more widely used.

"This whole approach of having open standards that are created by the

community breaks the mold that IT companies have been following for the past

three or four decades," William Zeitler, senior vice president, said in an

interview ahead of the speech.

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"What people tried to do was establish a platform or control point, and

having established that control point they would try to erect barriers and

extract margins," he said.

"It is our view that the open movement is going to fundamentally make it

impossible for people to have control points over customers." Instead, he

said, IT companies will be competing on reliability and affordability.

(C) Reuters Limited.

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