Linux has really come of age. It already serves millions of web pages, hosts filesystems, and recently has started to migrate onto desktop systems. However, my main interest for this adolescent OS is one market that is currently out of it's reach: the content creation workstation.

Unlike Windows, Linux is inherently modular and can be easily scaled into compact configurations — barely larger than DOS — that can even fit on a single floppy. What's more, since Linux source code is freely available, it's possible to customize the OS according to unique embedded system requirements.

Sure, if you don't know your serial bus from the crosstown express, Linux might not be the ideal desktop for you. But the software to do most anything you want to on Linux is available -- and almost all of it is free.

Hewlett-Packard has won an important endorsement in its heated battle against Sun Microsystems over the use of Java. Lynx Real-Time Systems, a major provider of operating systems used in non-PC computing devices, has signed a deal to use a Hewlett-Packard clone of Sun's Java software in its version of Linux for embedded devices.

Canadian software maker Corel Corp. , chip maker Intel Corp., and unnamed hardware manufacturers are collaborating on a line of cheap personal computers that would run on the Linux operating system, unconfirmed reports in a Toronto newspaper said.

With dramatic flair, many hailed 1999 as the Year of Linux. Concern about Microsoft's business practices and release dates reached an all-time high, and according to preliminary data from IDC, Linux was responsible for 25 per cent of all new server installs. But it's clear that the story of Linux is only just beginning. The question of what the operating system will be when it grows up is still very unclear.

Two of the largest developers and suppliers of the Unix-like Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) operating system have merged. Berkeley Software Design Inc. (BSDI), distributor of the BSD/OS operating system announced Friday that it has merged with Walnut Creek CDROM, distributor of the FreeBSD operating system.

Inprise Corporation announced a public field test of InterBase 6.0 for the Linux operating system now available as a download from the InterBase web site.

Corel Corporation announced it will offer a free download of Corel PHOTO-PAINT 9 for Linux. The download version of Corel PHOTO-PAINT 9 for Linux, Corel's photo-editing, image composition and painting application, will be available in early summer.

News of an IBM Linux port to the 390 began to emerge last year, as a rumour, following a posting to the Linux Kernel list which enquired about DMA buffers and address space. The rumour was confirmed in December when IBM published its modifications and additions to the Linux 2.2.13 code base for the support of the S/390 architecture.