IBM, a long-time supporter of Linux, has been working with major distributions of the popular open source operating system, to make it easier for users to port their applications written for x86 servers onto IBM Power Systems.
IBM got out of the x86 server business just last year, after itsold its System x unit to China’s Lenovo for $2.3 billion. The company has since been placing a lot of focus on growing its business around the Power processor architecture and servers built on it.
The way IBM and the big Linux distros – Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu) Red Hat, and SUSE – are tackling the portability problem has to do with the way server platforms treat data stored in memory. Most Linux software is written for the x86 architecture, which uses the “little endian” approach to storing bytes in memory. The alternative is “big endian,” which has traditionally been used by mainframes and IBM’s Power architecture. (Detailed explanation of the difference here)
Source:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/googles-project-zero-reveals-three-apple-os-x-zero-day-vulnerabilities/
