The idea, says Buell Duncan III , IBM's general manager for ISV and developer relations, is to create a network of companies large and small, which are conversant in both nonproprietary, or open, computing standards, like the Linux operating system or the Java programming language, and IBM's suite of hardware, middleware and services.

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These fingerprints look deep into the characteristics of the machine, logging such things as the time zone, keyboard language, operating-system version and other key identifiers.

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The company also plans to make the core language of its operating system available this summer to developers who can then use it to design new applications, much in the same way that companies like Apple have cultivated a community of app developers around their gadgets.

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It was a programming language, not an operating system.

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Google is accused of using the Java programming language in its Android mobile operating system unlawfully.

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The type of operating system, the make of microchip, the choice of programming language, the brand of computer all these are of no consequence to his argument, because it applies equally to all computers.

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That much make sense: Given how much of a data center is virtualized, and the management of that becoming something of an overarching operating system, servers may start to look something like what assembly language does now in a single computer: something critical, but not something people look at a lot, and not a place to stake your fortune.

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Fundamentally, we are cultural beings, speaking a language, belonging to a people, operating with a belief system.

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