On June 16, IBM marked the 100th anniversary of its founding. As part of the celebration of its centennial, IBM has curated 100 milestones that have shaped the company and the world in the last century. These 100 iconic moments-described in a list of 100 Icons of Progress-include the technology driving the Social Security System in the U.S., the invention of the floppy disk, the creation of the first corporate science research laboratory, the establishment of the Corporate Service Corps, a corporate version of the Peace Corps - as well as IBM's decision to support Linux.
In 2000, IBM made a commitment to invest $1 billion in Linux, with a concerted focus on improving the operating system from within the Linux community, transitioning all IBM systems to run Linux and optimizing existing IBM hardware and software to become Linux-ready. The commitment caught the attention of CEOs and CIOs all over the world, drove down customer costs while increasing flexibility and represented a significant validation of open source innovation. Today, Linux is the fastest-growing operating system in the world. Explore this Icon of Progress.