In recent technological history, Linux has evolved from water cooler techie chatter to a rock-solid solution for the business enterprise. The same software that was once dismissed as rogue is now being adopted and promoted by industry leaders such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and Intel. Each of these computer manufacturers has, in some way, determined that Linux provides value for their customers (as well as for their own operations). Of these companies, the only one that has publicly denounced Linux is Microsoft. Note that one doesn’t have to look very far to conclude that Microsoft is merely running scared from the threat that Linux poses to its personal computer operating system monopoly.

Linux has been accused of being “just another operating system.” On the surface, it may appear so, but if you look deeper, you can see that this isn’t so. The Linux project is a flagship leading the current trend toward open source and free (as in freedom, not free beer) software within the computing industry. A rock-solid operating system because of the model under which it was (and continues to be) developed, Linux represents much that is good and pure in software development.

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