There have been a couple of thought-provoking columns that have been published recently that I wanted to add my own two cents. Not that the authors of these missives were completely wrong in their conclusions, But I think some added perspective is needed to highlight that their points, while having some validity, still fall short of where Linux is right now and how it's going to move forward.

The first column is the most recently published: my colleague Bruce Byfield's piece "It's Time to Get Over Microsoft" that ran over on Datamation, another Jupitermedia site. In it, he puts forth some pretty good ideas about how Microsoft just isn't capable enough to completely eliminate the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) industry/movement, and that the community has much better things to worry about than the suits in Redmond.

The other article I wanted to mention was the Linux Magazine opinion piece "Is 2008 the Year of the Linux Desktop?", written by my friend and co-author Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier.

I have no real difference of opinion of the content of the article, in which Joe delves into the current status of Linux on the desktop and sees a bright future--if not this year, but soon after. His observations and opinions are spot on. My only problem is the title and meme of the article itself: this whole "year of the desktop" (YotD) notion has got to go.

More Here