IBM is to invest US$1 billion in promoting Linux development over the next five years for its Power Systems servers.

The announcement was made at LinuxCon in New Orleans, with IBM saying it wants to help clients capitalize on big data and cloud computing. The first beneficiaries of the scheme will be a new client center in France and a development cloud, both designed for the independent software vendor ecosystem supporting Linux on Power Systems.

The Power Systems Linux Center in Montpellier, France is an addition to similar centers round the world where software developers can build and deploy new applications for big data, cloud, mobile and social business computing using Linux and machines running on IBM Power7+ processors.

Other centers are already running in Beijing, New York, and Austin. The resources in the centers include Linux training workshops showing how to program, port and optimize applications using Red Hat and SUSE environments on power systems, and hands-on assistance to show developers how to make use of POWER7+ parallel processing and virtualization capabilities. There are also business development and technical workshops giving advice on how IBM can help your business grow, including access to IBM Business Partner go-to-market resources, and developers are invited to Request a briefing.

The development cloud will be free to use, and will consist of a group of Power-based servers run by IBM that developers can use remotely at no charge to prototype, build, port, and test Linux applications on the Power platform as well as applications built for AIX and IBM i. Developers can currently use IBM SmartCloud Enterprise on a Development Use Only (DUO) basis so long as they are:

“Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) or Systems Integrators (SIs) whose core business is solely the delivery of commercially available network delivered applications or Software as a Service (SaaS) applications for end users in the marketplace.”

We’ve asked IBM for clarification and further details of where and when the Linux free cloud will become available and will update this piece when we have more information.

This isn't the first time that IBM have put big money up for Linux. In this case the timing is right in the sense that Intel's hold on the server looks less secure and Windows Server doesn't look as promising with Microsoft claiming that it is to become a devices and services company.