IBM, Inc. has entered into a deal with Austrian system integrator, VDEL, to manufacture PCs that run RedHat Linux, Lotus Symphony software and open-source OpenOffice productivity software that are being marketed as “Microsoft-free.” The new system is an open source system called “Open Referent” and will be sold in Eastern Europe. The PCs will be distributed by Poland distributor, LX Polska.

It is rumored that the PCs will retail for half of the price of Microsoft loaded PCs. There is reportedly huge demand in Russia and Eastern European countries for the Open Referent system, including Russian-owned commercial aircraft company, Aeroflot, the RusHotel chain and the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The OpenDocument Format that is now part of Microsoft’s document standards is unpopular with Eastern European governments and businesses there, and the Linux PC is considered to be a more secure system over Microsoft’s Windows OS.