PTC turns to HP for Linux support

A PTC - Parametric Technology (UK) product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 17, 2002

PTC is to support the Linux operating system for Pro/Engineer.

PTC is to support the Linux operating system for Pro/Engineer.

With the release of a Linux supported Pro/Engineer, PTC plans to accommodate the growing demand from top design engineers to support the Linux open-source operating system.

PTC also announced its intention to align with the Hewlett-Packard Company as the Linux partner for PTC's Pro/Engineer.

Working with HP, PTC intends to support two popular Linux distributions, including Red Hat, on the full range of 32bit Intel-based architecture workstations available from HP with the release of Pro/Engineer Wildfire later this year.

"Two of our biggest strengths with Pro/Engineer Wildfire are openness and value", said Brian Shepherd, senior vice president of technical marketing at PTC.

"Adding Linux to the long list of certified platforms for Pro/Engineer ensures that our customers can take advantage of the innovations and competition taking place in the platform market to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership for their product development environment".

Supporters of Linux point to a lower total cost of ownership because they can leverage their Unix expertise on a free and open operating system running on cost-effective Intel architecture workstations.

According to market analyst firm IDC; Linux and other open-source operating systems are expected to experience a 67% compound annual growth rate between 2001 and 2005.

IDC Analyst Gisela Wilson states, "PTC's support for the Linux operating environment is proof of its stated commitment to openness and platform independence.

This announcement reinforces PTC's reputation as one of the technology leaders in the product lifecycle management market".

"PTC is moving ahead of the curve by working with HP to bring the power and useability of Pro/Engineer Wildfire to Linux", said Martin Fink, general manager, HP Linux Systems Division.

"As the leading provider of Linux solutions, HP is ideally positioned to help service the growing demand for a Linux solution within product development and engineering environments".

Thanks to an innovative software architecture, Pro/Engineer can accommodate a wide variety of hardware platforms and operating systems with full interoperability, high performance, and a fully consistent and familiar user interface.

PTC has always shown a leading role in bringing innovations and improvements in operating systems and platforms to the engineering community.

By partnering on this initiative with HP, the leading Linux solution provider, PTC will be able to expedite the process of bringing this product to market.

"We have been long time users of Pro/Engineer on a variety of platforms", said Dr Sepehr Kiani, principal engineer at Teradyne Connection Systems, "Pro/Engineer Wildfire on Linux is exciting as it will allow us to take advantage of expertise we already have in Unix while allowing our top designers to run on whatever system they prefer.

We really appreciate the flexibility that PTC's open approach gives us in designing winning products for high-speed, high-density system interconnect".