"Many people believe Linux and its development model needs to change because it does not appear to meet IBM-style requirements. Mark my words. IBM will change the way it does development before Linux will. In fact, judging from the announcements at the Linux World Conference and Expo in New York, they already are."

The NSA (for once) is serving the public interest by making it harder to subvert private as well as public systems and thus is preserving the foundations of our economy: the systems that run banking, communications, and other key services. Although the NSA's Security-Enhanced Linux prototype has several limitations, it still represents a huge step in the right direction.

"The war between Windows and Linux is not about quality. At the very least, it is not about quality alone. It truly is about freedom from tyranny at both the desktop and the server levels. Microsoft has the audacity to pursue its despicable antipiracy tactics only because Microsoft owns the desktop."

"It is thought Linux is fast becoming more popular (if not already) than Windows, and more and more computers in businesses run Linux, so people going into any area of business would benefit from the experience of Linux."

"First, at what point will the "official" Kernel.org source be able to be compiled on PPC? For the moment that just doesn't happen. I have to get it from somewhere else if I want a working kernel."

Without a decent browser, it will be difficult for alternative operating systems to remain viable.

We owe the old Netscape a great debt of gratitude for

releasing a Linux version of Netscape so early on; it quickly

made Linux a viable desktop, and later did the same for the

other free Unices. Only a few wise men seem to realize this.

"Sell a really flaky distribution of Linux. Follow it several months later with a new version and claim that it is 20 times as reliable as the previous version. Market it as being a huge improvement, and forget it was junk to begin with. It is amazing how much people will pay for bug fixes, if you claim that it's really a "new" operating system."

"Linux is cheaper, but is it backward compatible? VMWare, Lin4Win and WINE all provide backwards compatibility with Windows, and Dosemu provides backwards compatibility with DOS applications, something Microsoft is threatening to drop from its own offering. Finally, does Linux provide something that the user desires? Yes, stability and security."

Linux supporters have long claimed the transparent nature of open-source development produces more secure software and fixes bugs faster than proprietary companies such as Microsoft and Oracle do. Even if that's true, Linux will need to prove it can deliver this security to the growing mass of open-source converts who are not particularly tech-savvy and are accustomed to Microsoft-style one-click upgrades.

Linux and Palm OS are both good operating environments, but both have distinct drawbacks. Most expert users of both platforms, if they took a dispassionate look, could probably outline those drawbacks better than anyone else. But the moment they hear a discouraging word, some of these OS partisans get lathered up and have to fight back -- even if no one was really challenging them.