Thread: The EPIC N9 anticipation thread
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erendorn is offline erendorn
2011-06-17 , 21:08
Posts: 738 | Thanked: 983 times | Joined on Apr 2010 @ London
#5506
Originally Posted by misterc View Post
since when is contributing = earning money?
you may want to learn some basic accounting.

the reason why IBM contributes to Linux is because some companies want to run Linux over IBM's property OSes (AIX, OS/400 or MVS and the like) but still want to make use of the hardware quality of IBM.
IBM's PDF: «it also provides flexibility, choice, and an attractive total cost of ownership that can benefit IBM customers.»
maybe you should learn to read, too?
Well, it's a wild guess, but you can consider that IBM would sell less if they contributed less to Linux (as you quoted, «it also provides flexibility, choice, and an attractive total cost of ownership that can benefit IBM customers.», and customers bring money)
So it is fair to say that IBM earnings are partially caused by the Linux servers attractiveness, and that they effectively earn money from open source.
It's not because you don't sell something that you don't earn money out of it. There are different business models out there.
 

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