Compaq Computer joined IBM, SGI and others in reaffirming its commitment to Linux with new tools and services designed to increase the acceptance of the upstart operating system in the corporate world.

This week at LinuxWorld, Maxspeed will roll out a $149 machine called +One that's about the size of a pack of cigarettes. At the same time, Vega Technologies is developing a technology to share one PC's processing power among multiple thin clients -- for about $199 per station.

Though still primarily a server operating system, Linux is showing signs of slowly morphing into a desktop environment for everyday users.

Looking to pique enterprise customer interest in Linux, major vendors this week will unveil clustering technology, embedded systems software and thin-client options for the open source operating system.

Although Linux is still being talked about more than it is used, support from a founding Unix company and Windows stalwarts indicate that the operating system is definitely growing up.

Andover.Net the leading Linux destination, launched a comprehensive services program for the Open Source community on its Freshmeat.Net site. Freshmeat, the Internet's largest archive of Linux/Open Source projects, now offers everything an organization needs to begin, develop and distribute an Open Source project including: free web hosting, web-based CVS, unlimited FTP downloads and project and mailing list management.

Corel Corporation announced that the first beta version of its WordPerfect Office 2000 for Linux has been issued to beta testing sites.

Hot on the heels of the unveilings of Transmeta's Mobile Linux and Lineo's Embedix, Red Hat Inc. is joining the embedded-system fray with its Red Hat Tools for Embedded Developers.

Storage management vendor Veritas Software Corp. in Mountain View, Calif., has announced plans to launch Linux versions of all its key products, including its Cluster Server fail-over software.

IBM extended its support for the Linux operating system to "thin-client" computers. Generally speaking, a thin-client computer is a stripped-down PC that runs programs off a powerful server computer instead of from a unit on the desk. A new trend is adapting thin clients to run Linux, the popular Unix derivative developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds.