Chalk up another victory for the open-source movement: IBM, hoping to boost confidence in the Internet as a safe place to do business, on Monday unveiled the code to its email program Secure Mailer.
IBM claims that Secure Mailer offers improved "security, reliability, and performance" over existing email delivery services such as Sendmail, the software that is now believed to process some three-quarters of Internet correspondence.
IBM has traditionally kept close guard over its proprietary software creations and is seen as a jealous defender of its patents. But like a growing number of companies, it now sees possible benefits to opening up its technology.
Sendmail Inc. already freely publishes its own programming code, allowing programmers to tinker with the email software's basic functions and develop improvements.
Charles King, an analyst with industry researcher Meta Group, said that far from giving up on its commercial goals, IBM stands to benefit indirectly from solving security issues due to its large and rapidly growing investment in e-commerce.
"IBM sees this as an indirect revenue generator," King said.
IBM said it is publishing the email software code not only to replace what it considers antiquated and faulty Sendmail software, but also as a test run for developing open-source software in general.
"By offering Secure Mailer free without licensing restrictions, IBM is helping build a stronger base for secure e-business," Jeff Jaffe, general manager for IBM's IT Security, said in a statement.
Open-source software has become popular with a growing number of programmers, who see it as an alternative to Microsoft's perceived stranglehold on new innovations through its dominant Windows operating system.
Making the code to Secure Mailer available to programmers should speed its adoption.
"For example, versions of these ... systems can be bordered (connected) to larger systems, such as to the service providers, with their big mail sites," said Secure Mailer developer Wietse Venema. "Programmers may want to add enhancements so it fits better in these big environments."
In addition to its security benefits, IBM said Secure Mailer will offer greater stability than current systems. Because it can differentiate between mail-bomb attacks and legitimate mass mailings, the company said, Secure Mailer will handle heavy email traffic by "gracefully degrad[ing] performance, rather than crash[ing] the system."
Secure Mailer is available on IBM's alphaWorks Web site.
Reuters contributed to this report.
