Lynx Real-Time Systems, Inc. announced that Motorola Computer Group (MCG) (NYSE: MOT), has made a minority investment in its company. This is the second investment Motorola has made in Lynx within the past two years.

TurboLinux, Inc. announced an investment, technology and strategic partnership with Lynx Real-Time Systems, Inc., a pioneer embedded Linux and in the open standards real-time operating system (RTOS) industry.

Applied Data Systems (ADS) has launched a new commercially-available Linux -- Intel StrongARM SA-1110 platform. The platform is available on ADS Graphics Client single board computer systems, with driver capability to load Linux from PCMCIA ATA cards, on-board flash memory, for a flash file system, serial ports, and with the ability to create output on a variety of LCD displays.

If consolidation signals an industry's arrival, an example of Linux's mainstream coming-of-age can be found in Boulder County.

There are no real central organizational structures for volunteering for Linux development projects. While this freedom is important for its development, it has resulted in volunteer efforts being scattered around the Internet. What the community needs is a central location to recruit and locate Linux volunteers.

Linuxcare, which provides customer service for business Linux users, announced the departure of its CEO and the delay of its stock market flotation.

CSP Inc. (NASDAQ: CSPI) announced the introduction of its new highly scalable clustering system: FastCluster. This new system is the first product of its kind to run the Linux operating system.

NEC Electronics Inc. and VioSoft Corporation announced that the Linux operating system, version 2.3.9, has been ported to NEC's standard evaluation platforms for its VR4121(TM), VR5432(TM) and VR5000(TM) 64-bit MIPS(R) RISC microprocessors.

Corel continues to transform itself into an independent software vendor of Linux. Its acquisition of Inprise may offer real-world competitive advantages to further this evolution.

This paper explores the author's experiences with Linux in mission critical business applications.