IT WAS SUGGESTED that I write my column this week about my pick for Product of the Year. It wasn't exactly my readers who suggested this, of course. My inbox isn't full of messages saying, "Please, tell us which of the many products you mentioned last year is the very, very best one."

In this interview, we asked Michael Tiemann about the implications of the Red Hat / Cygnus merger on the embedded Linux market, its effect on the Cygnus EL/IX Embedded Linux API initiative, and his general views on the growth of Linux in non-desktop embedded applications.

Vim is an almost 100% compatible version of the UNIX editor Vi. Many new features have been added: Multi level undo, syntax highlighting, command line history, filename completion, block operations, etc...

Being a RedHat/Mandrake sympathizer, when I noticed Mandrake 7 was available, I jumped right on it. Having a fast connection, I decided to try out an FTP install.

Soothsayers of Linux doom raise the specter of fragmentation and predict that Linux will suffer the same fate that's held back the commercial UNIX flavors. arnim rupp suggests that not only will Linux hold together, but may also be the means to reunite the UNIX factions.

Indeed- instead of dancing in the streets, we really should be digging in our heels for the final tugs that will win this game of Software Prominence. Notice that I didn't say "dominance"... after all, we don't really want to be another MS, do we? I suspect that this year, above all others since the Linux v0.99 kernel release, will be the most critical one for the Linux community.

What is such a striking similarity is the acculturation which members of the Mac and Linux communities undergo. The accultured Mac or Linux user has a treasure-trove of canonical phrases from the history of the community, many of which are quotes by the community's Fearless Leader.

The recent announcement of Gates' resignation as the CEO of Microsoft, and the subsequent flood of articles from several different sources promptly published on Linux Today and several other Linux-related sites, tends to bring to mind a single, plain question: who really cares?

Speaking at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, Jon "Maddog" Hall, executive director of the nonprofit vendor group Linux International, gave his reaction to news that Bill Gates is stepping down as CEO of Microsoft and taking on the new title of chief software architect.

Investors are impressed with Corel's continued push into the Linux market through startup investments. A cursory glance gives some the feeling that Corel is building a strong Linux business.