In tech lingo, Linux means geekiness. Even though Linux has been making some pretty decent progress toward becoming a people's operating system, spearheaded by Ubuntu, it is still a domain of computer freaks, savvy ego-centric hackers and advanced users with a knack for software. Most ordinary people soil their pants at the very mention of the word Linux.

But what does Jolicloud tell them? Nothing. First, it has the word cloud in there, and it's a new buzzword. Along with netbooks, cloud has been the defining word for 2009. More and more emphasis is placed on instant and permanent online connectivity, running in the cloud, with your programs and documents sitting on remote servers, with your mobile device nothing more than a fancy terminal to connect to these servers.

Second, Jolicloud is such an esoteric name that it could mean anything. You would definitely not instantly suspect Jolicloud is Linux. But neither would you think the same of Moblin or Google Chrome OS, yet Linux is what they are, down under.

And so is Jolicloud.