Unless you are a computer science or math major, you probably have no idea about LinuxONE computer operating systems, or that Marist is one of the three schools from around the world hosting this new technology.

IBM Corp., the largest employer in Dutchess County and one of the driving forces of the local economy, announced in August that it would partner with Marist College to host LinuxONE mainframes, which are open-source computer operating systems available for free to students and developers around the world. The machines were fully installed in the Data Center in Donnelly Hall on Sept. 23, but students and faculty will have to wait until the project launches in mid-November to access to them.

“It’s really exciting because it is such a great opportunity to have such a close relationship with IBM where they can give us all these toys to play with and things to work on,” said Dan Martino, a third-year computer science major with a concentration in software development. “We’re pretty privileged.”

This is the LinuxONE system in the Data Center in Donnelly Hall. It is fully functioning, but won’t be available for use until mid-November.

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