Mainsoft last week announced it is working with IBM to extend the Linux ecosystem. Specifically, the companies want to help Microsoft customers migrate to the open-source operating system.
The program is designed to allow Windows Web and server applications to run on Linux across IBM’s line of eServer platforms supporting IBM WebSphere Application Servers.
Mainsoft said enterprises that prefer WebSphere software will have greater flexibility to choose Linux as a common operating environment, paving the way to Service Oriented Architecture implementations.
“For large-scale deployments, a growing number of software vendors and developers want to extend their existing Windows applications to J2EE and Linux, without having to rewrite their applications or expand their skill sets,” said Yaacov Cohen, president and CEO of Mainsoft.
Greasing the Skids
Mainsoft reports a growing demand for its cross-platform solutions: 90 percent of Visual Studio developers who visit Mainsoft’s developer zone say they want to take their existing .NET applications to Linux and across other Java-enabled platforms.
Of course, cross-platform solutions have been in demand for years. The question is, which platforms are most popular?
Surveys show that Linux adoption is growing amid the bevy of other platforms with the enterprises, Interarbor Solutions Analyst Dana Gardner told LinuxInsider. Historically, the industry has seen many cases where one platform attempts to displace another.
Gardner said greasing of the skids to allow for Linux migration or coexistence vis-a-vis these types of tools and automation processes are an integral part of any adoption pattern.
“Part of the displacement process has included automated approaches to migrations, to coexistence, to take care of a lot of the nitty gritty of how multiple applications behave together and also how one can take over from another,” Gardner noted. “The net-net here is this follows suit on past practices with other platforms.”
New Visual MainWin Version
Mainsoft also announced Version 1.4 of Visual MainWin for J2EE, a single source code development solution for the .NET and J2EE platforms.
The new version integrates into the Visual Studio .NET development environment. Visual MainWin enables C# and Visual Basic .NET developers to develop and maintain Web and server on both platforms throughout a product’s lifecycle.
Mainsoft said Version 1.7 has been validated on IBM’s Server Prove program. It comes with a J2EE implementation of the .NET framework that now includes Drawing, Remoting and Directory Services as well as support for Infragistics NetAdvantage 2005 Web controls.
Supporting WebSphere
The new release also supports WebSphere Application Server 6, WebSphere Application Server 6 Express and WebSphere Application Server 5.1, and it can be used to create Portal applications that can be deployed on IBM WebSphere Portal Server 5.
Mainsoft Professional Services ports .NET Web and server applications to run on WebSphere software and other J2EE-enabled platforms on a fixed-time, fixed-cost basis, and validates them as IBM eServer compatible.
Dot-Net ISVs gain free access to IBM’s system and Linux distribution resources and middleware, as well as troubleshooting support for Visual Basic .NET and C# applications running on IBM’s eServer and middleware platforms.
“Certainly, IBM and other vendors who have open-source and particularly Linux components want to increase their presence and accounts that have Microsoft, and in many cases try to displace elements of Microsoft’s server side portfolio,” Gardner said. “IBM doesn’t enter into partnerships likethis without due diligence.”
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