IBM to Buy Red Hat, the Top Linux Distributor, for $34 Billion | NYT

I'm guessing IBM's stock price isn't going up today; also see IBM Buying Open Source Specialist Red Hat for $34 Billion (Wired)

"The IBM cloud strategy is to supply both hardware and software for companies to build their own private clouds, and it also has a third-party public cloud offering.

IBM, analysts say, cannot really compete broadly with so-called hyperscale cloud companies — Amazon, Microsoft and Google — which tap their deep coffers to spend many billions of dollars a year to build more giant data centers.

But IBM and Red Hat say they are well placed to be leaders in helping corporations make the transition to cloud computing without getting locked into the technology of an internet giant."

IBM to Buy Red Hat, the Top Linux Distributor, for $34 Billion | NYT