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Venezuela banks on IBM Linux mainframe

One of Venezuela's largest banks, Banco Mercantil, buys into IBM's strategy of using Linux on a mainframe computer.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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Venezuelan bank Banco Mercantil buys into IBM's strategy of using Linux on a mainframe computer.

The bank, one of Venezuela's largest, will move tasks currently running on 30 Windows NT servers onto a mainframe running Linux, IBM said. Customers checking account information over the Internet also will be using the mainframe's services.

In a second phase, the bank will move functions currently running on Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems Unix servers to the mainframe.

IBM is using Linux to rejuvenate the decades-old mainframe line, which still is respected despite its age, dwindling sales and steep price tags. Internet software packages are available for Linux, a clone of Unix, and numerous programmers are using Linux.

IBM is in the midst of a $1 billion effort to promote and improve Linux. Big Blue is spreading Linux across all four of its server lines.

Banco Mercantil is using the version of Linux from Germany's SuSE, widely regarded as the second most influential Linux software seller after Red Hat.