On May 18, 1999, Linux.com opened its virtual doors to the Linux community. Since then, the Linux world has seen an incredible number of developments -- a testament to the fact that everyone's favourite OS runs on "Internet time," or possibly even faster. Let's take a look at what has happened since the site's creation on this day in 1999.

If you remember my first impressions of Rebel.com's Netwinder, you might recall that although I was impressed with the diminutive unit, the setup utilities were less than optimal. My major complaint, at the time, was that they were decidedly Microsoft-centric, and unless you attached a monitor, mouse and a keyboard to the unit, you really had to have a windows box on your LAN to get the Netwinder installed.

Further Extending an olive branch to the open-source community, IBM on Wednesday announced its formal support for the popular Linux operating system on its S/390 line of servers after what Big Blue officials called a groundswell of demand by users of the enterprise-level servers.

Ever wanted to know which operating systems and applications have the most

reported security vulnerabilities? Are there more known vulnerabilities in

Windows NT or Linux?

Silicon Graphics Inc. got behind the Linux operating system in a big way on Monday (May 15), introducing a line of Intel-based workstations that will support Linux, and saying it will drop all development work on proprietary operating systems except for its high-end IRIX systems. The moves will help SGI take advantage of industry standards and save development costs, the company said.

A small company called Linux Networx has developed

software that creates single-system-image clusters

of multiple Linux systems, which could make the

platform more suitable for database apps. With a

single system image, all of the servers on a network

look and function like one computer."

"Software maker Corel and programming toolmaker

Inprise today agreed to end a proposed billion-dollar

merger, leaving Corel to find other forms of financing."

"IBM has agreed to deliver Red Hat's Linux training

and certification program at training centers on the

world, Red Hat announced Monday."

Linux may not be the hottest new technology on the block any longer, but even as the hype and stock prices fade, customer interest is increasing, an industry analyst says.

So, you've got this growing dot-com business in the basement of your home (running on Linux, obviously), and need to make sure the website is up and running at all times? You need a cluster.