I think that this great. This is totally the shot in the arm that OSS needs to be more accessible. For more businesses, the endeavor could really boost IBM’s street credit in the eyes of the business public.

IBM joins CSC, Novell and a handful of small to medium-sized suppliers who have inked contracts authorising their participation in the panel after a lengthy negotiation process with state government officials.

An IBM spokeswoman was unable to confirm the heavyweight’s status regarding the panel. However, a Department of Commerce spokeswoman said Big Blue had signed up.

The news comes after Novell last week released a statement claiming its agreement with NSW “was a great endorsement of the advantages that open source has to offer, particularly for government where security and cost issues are of paramount importance”. Source: ZDNet

[tags]linux,nsw,ibm spokeswoman,csc,medium-sized suppliers,state government officials[/tags]