Linux is hot, and Informix Corp. is about to let its flagship database go at fire-sale prices in a bid to win market share. From Feb. 10 through Oct. 10, Informix, of Menlo Park, Calif., will offer Linux versions of its Internet Foundation 2000 database at discounts of 85 percent to 90 percent.

Skinny servers stacked up by the dozen are rapidly becoming the preferred way for PC companies to squeeze profits out of the popularity of the free Linux operating systems. Several factors--relatively low cost, high reliability and network-friendliness--make Linux a good choice for companies that need lots of servers to handle tasks such as delivering Web pages or funneling requests to a back-end database.

Linux, the freely distributed operating system whose Cinderella story has riveted the market for Web servers, is ready to wear its glass slippers once again. The fairy-tale ball this time is the very posh information appliance market.

For companies with Java developers working on different platforms, switching projects from one OS to another can be tricky. But with the release of JBuilder 3 Foundation for Linux, a free Java IDE (integrated development environment) from Inprise, your developers can now use the platform they prefer and still collaborate on projects.

So...you are considering trying Linux in your office. You know it could benefit your IT department from a technical standpoint. The price is right. What is left to consider? How will this affect your current IT staff?

Breathing life into groupware efficacy for Linux is industry leader Lotus Development. With the release of Domino R5 Server for Linux, Lotus brings messaging infrastructure and Web application deployment to Linux that was previously only available for more costly operating systems.

At LinuxWorld Expo, SGI will announce a new Linux-based product line and extensive Linux technical and professional services support, but perhaps the biggest news for the open source community involves SGI's high end journaling file system, XFS.

In response, Caldera is aiming OpenLinux eServer 2.3 squarely at the no-nonsense, corporate IT market, trying to win over the e-business server market. OpenLinux eServer is tuned for thin, high-performance operation and easy remote administration.

It is a good sign that people are looking to improve the lot of the computer world. But, I'm wondering if perhaps Linux Power Users (a group I would like to be part of) have overlooked a hurdle to cross first.

Apple's QuickTime software has historically been an innovation leader in the field of making multimedia available to the masses, with their advanced movie player and state-of-the-art streaming technology. Linux is bringing state-of-the-art performance, reliability, and security to the desktop of tens of millions of users worldwide. It offers a highly powerful, flexible, and increasingly user- friendly graphical environment with unparalleled connectivity to the Internet and the World Wide Web.