Linux finding niche in automotive industry

Detroit October 30, 2002; John Poretto writing for The AP reported that to lower costs and stay competitive, automakers are turning to inexpensive Linux-based computers for crash simulations, structural analysis and other tasks once handled by expensive high-performance systems.

The auto industry's move away from computers based on custom hardware and the proprietary Unix operating system mirrors trends in other industries, including oil exploration and retail.

"This is a game-changer for any industry that has a high-performance computing workload," said Steve Solazzo, general manager for Linux operations at International Business Machines Corp.

Open-source Linux can be downloaded for free or purchased at a fraction of the price of other operating systems. It runs on mass-produced chips from Intel and other semiconductor makers.

Companies such as IBM, which also is a major player in the supercomputer business, are bundling the software and teaching businesses how to install it.

Ferrari UK, Volvo and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group are among the companies that have turned to IBM for systems built around Linux. For Chrysler and Volvo, IBM has created clusters of commercial-grade Linux computers to analyze complex problems.

Both switched from custom hardware and software built around the Unix operating system from such companies as Sun Microsystems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Silicon Graphics Inc. and others.

Chrysler began using a Linux cluster of workstations in August for impact simulations during vehicle development. The automaker said the new system allows it to analyze simulations 20 percent faster with the same precision while reducing the cost by 40 percent.

Chrysler spokeswoman Mary Beth Halprin said the automaker eventually hopes to apply Linux cluster technology to simulations for fluid dynamics, noise vibration and metal forming.

"As the technology evolves and can handle greater amounts of data, we'll look to moving other portions of our testing," Halprin said.

Chrysler said the new strategy evolved from a collaboration involving its information technology team, IBM, semiconductor giant Intel Corp., Livermore Software Technology Corp. and Linux distributor Red Hat.

Volvo, the Swedish automaker, is using an IBM Linux cluster for simulations and data processing linked to developing new car models.

Tennessee-based Wise Industries, which makes interior components such as carpeting and liners for vans and trucks, switched from Unix to IBM servers running Linux to reduce costs and improve speed in areas such as accounting and distribution, said company president Ron Wise.

IBM began pushing Linux in January 2000. Since then, the company said, it has persuaded 4,600 customers to use the system for such things as calculating seismic algorithms in oil fields and creating graphic renderings in Hollywood.

Solazzo wasn't able to provide specific numbers, but he said IBM expects overall Linux sales for 2002 to see "very healthy double-digit growth" over last year.

Ford Motor Co., the world's second-largest automaker behind General Motors Corp., said it also uses some Linux-based technology for computer-aided engineering, but not on a widespread basis.

GM, however, continues to use supercomputers.

Sean McAlinden, an analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said it was too soon to calculate the overall cost savings of using lower-cost Linux systems in automotive clusters.

However, he said Detroit's Big Three automakers alone have thousands of engineers performing technical tasks each day on computers that possibly could be changed to Linux.

Chrysler, for example, opted for Linux and IBM for crash-test simulations over its former equipment -- SGI Origins and Hewlett-Packard N-Class Unix systems.

"I don't know how significant it is, but why pay license fees if you don't have to?" McAlinden said.

Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds wrote the original basic instruction set, or kernel, of Linux in 1991 and invited the world's programmers to improve it.

In 1992, about 1,000 people worldwide were using Linux. A decade later, 20 million people use it, mainly on large corporate networks, research firm A.D.H. Brown Associates estimates.

The research firm IDC estimates the Linux cluster market is about $225 million this year, compared with $240 million for Unix and $30 million for Windows.

NASA's Jet Propulsion laboratory now uses Linux and government agencies from France to China to the developing world are increasingly attracted to the software.

Several major corporations, including 7-Eleven, Deutsche Telekom and Amazon.com, are migrating to Linux to take advantage of low-cost, open-source versions of data management software such as MySQL.

In fact, most sellers of proprietary Unix-based systems are developing Linux alternatives. Besides IBM, Sun Microsystems and HP have entered the Linux market.

Microsoft, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, also is trying to win business away from makers of Unix-based machines, said Chet Kloss, technology director for Microsoft's Automotive Industry Group.

He said Microsoft considers itself a viable player because it can provide software that manages and maintains the entire server. But he would not identify the companies with which Microsoft is negotiating.