HP unveils 24-7 unlimited Linux support

Hewlett-Packard has followed the lead of IBM to offer corporates Linux support 24 hours a day, seven days a week irrespective of hardware and who's version of the open source operating system the customer has installed, as prediced. The support package also covers HP's own Linux applications. The company also said it will be extended to cover future Linux distributions, most notably its forthcoming IA-64 version, plus the Apache Web server and other third-party apps. HP also said it will offer Linux training programmes. The $130-per-server support fee will allow customers to make unlimited phone calls to HP's support centres. The package also provides email support. HP's support programme is the latest in a line of moves made following the company's decision to support Linux as one of its core operating systems (see earlier story). That plan involves not only shipping Linux on its Intel-based servers and the development of a version for its Merced machines but a PA-RISC release too. IBM's Linux support programme was announced at the start of March (see IBM to support all major Linux distributions ). ®