A group of 14 information technology companies announced Friday the establishment of a consortium to develop an advanced information system using a Linux-based operating system.
The consortium, Nature's Linux Alliance, led by IP Telecom Inc. in Sapporo, will provide infrastructures for a new generation of network services for government offices and companies, the firms said.
While the infrastructures will utilize an operating system developed by IP Telecom on the basis of Linux, the system, called Nature's Linux, has reduced problems caused by the original open-source operating system, such as the instability of computer systems and the high cost of maintaining them.
In addition to IP Telecom, the alliance counts among its members Sun Microsystems K.K., the Japanese unit of U.S. computer technology firm Sun Microsystems Inc., and Fujitsu Prime Software Technologies Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese computer builder Fujitsu Ltd.