SuSE Linux AG, MandrakeSoft and Linbox Inc. are partnering to develop and include in future versions of Linux distributions the key technologies of the Linbox Network Architecture. All SuSE Linux and MandrakeSoft users will soon be able to set up efficient diskless Network Computing solutions based on Linux.

Linux cornered 25% of the server operating system market last year, according to preliminary data from International Data Corp. (IDC). But in terms of revenue share, Linux remains a tiny fraction of the market.

What a difference six months can make. At the last LinuxWorld held August 1999 in San Jose, the Linux faithful gathered to celebrate the diversity of the Linux community, and just six months later, many of them were fabulously wealthy.

It is interesting that critics of Linux tend to exaggerate the potential for Linux to fragment as an argument against the open-source operating system. They usually point to the number of unique Linux distributions as evidence, because there are occasional incompatibilities among them.

What is the use of a digital camera if you cannot import the images for future storage on a computer? Problems arise when digital-camera manufacturers do not release their communication protocols, and developers have a much harder time developing software for non-proprietary operating systems.

Linus Torvalds gave the keynote speech at LinuxWorld Expo last month, right after announcing Transmeta Corp. Am I the only one to see that Torvalds and other open-source software revolutionaries are acting out the finale of George Orwell's Animal Farm?

I read Bob Lewis' recent opinion piece at InfoWorld that stated Microsoft's strategy of Windows everywhere would eventually not let them win anywhere. WinCE is a flop and the Web ensures that more and more people know that Windows New Technology isn't, really, even in the year 2000.

No significant AIX/Monterey road map changes will occur as a result of IBM's reorganization and Linux pronouncements through 1H01 (0.8 probability). By 2002, as vendor involvement in Linux increases, Linux will become increasingly proprietary on a solutions level even while the operating system and basic infrastructure remain controlled standards (0.8 probability) - Gartner.

The OS wars, at least in the Internet server market, seem to have three main players still standing: Solaris, GNU/Linux, and Windows. Which of the various companies pushing these alternatives will gain the upper hand in the near future? Admittedly the question is a simplistic and difficult to make concrete. My bet is that a simplistic but probably correct answer is: The first of SUN or Microsoft to completely abandon their proprietary OS and transition to GNU/Linux.

In the first few months after setting up its first European office, Linux vendor Red Hat has been able to attract the attention of some of Europe's largest enterprise customers. "In all of my twenty years in the IT industry, I have never seen a response from the enterprise world like we are getting now", says Colin Tenwick, vice president Europe, Middle East and Africa for Red Hat.