The 4.1.1-RELEASE has been enhanced with cryptographic code and other new features like IDE ATA100 support, drivers for additional Gigabit ethernet cards and hardware watchpoints in gdb.

The interesting thing about Sun's plan to purchase Cobalt Networks is how little Sun has had to said about Linux. Sun undoubtedly has a Linux strategy that goes way beyond anything they're saying publicly.

Despite the outwardly can't-miss combination of Cygnus' engineering talent and Red Hat's marketing savvy, the company has spent almost the entire year watching a host of competitors sprint past it.

While this release represents an excellent summary of all that Linux has had to offer so far, it is the next anticipated point release that will bring some of the most eagerly awaited features to X Windows desktops everywhere.

VA Linux Systems and Sumitomo have created a subsidiary to help VA establish a toehold in the notoriously hard-to-enter Japanese market.

Linux is endangered by the popularity of the businesses formed to sell and service it. Red Hat, Caldera Systems, TurboLinux, and other Linux vendors can potentially stifle its development by packaging a single standard for the OS.

Forging its strongest ties yet with the open-source community, Novell said that Red Hat has adopted its NDS eDirectory and DirXML to power the directory services infrastructure of the leading Linux distributor's subscription service.

LynuxWorks has introduced VisualLynux, the first product to integrate the Microsoft Visual C++ Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with development tools for the Linux operating system.

Speaking at the Networld + Interop trade show in Atlanta, Robert Young said the fast pace of change in the Linux world puts a lot of pressure on users to keep up to date with the latest releases, patches and updates.

Not sure if open source is the right choice for your online business? Perhaps you should take a look at News Interactive. The online arm of Murdoch's News Corporation in Australia has made a major commitment to the new software model.