The GUI, dubbed Sikigami, was developed by Japanese software developer AXE as a broader version of the Linux code it used to port the open source OS over to Sharp's Zaurus PDA.

"Probably the next big upgrade cycle will be centered around the Itanium," says VA Linux CEO Larry Augustin, whose company provides Linux hardware and services to large enterprises. "When computers start rolling off production lines, Linux will be on equal footing with everyone else, including Microsoft, in terms of taking advantage of the new hardware."

"Fly swapping or as it should be called, Swap on-the-Fly allows the addition of swap space as and when needed. This is very handy if you have just ran out of Memory while trying to do a big compile or, more often, you mis-configured your swap at installation and ran out of memory before even X starts."

"This is a beta release of Red Hat Linux. It is not intended for mission critical applications. It's not even intended for non-mission critical applications. Important data should not be entrusted to Wolverine, as it may eat it and make loud belching noises."

"No one can wait two years," Ellison said. "Don't take our software and finish it yourselves. If you do that, you start falling into that trap where you can't upgrade because of customized code."

IBMCCR 0.3 is IBM's implementation of handwriting recognizer for Linux. The Simplified Chinese(GB) version can recognize all the 6763 Chinese characters defined in National Standard GB2312-1980.

"I was disturbed, because Allchin suggested that open source is somehow "un-American." To have the discussion about alternate business models descend to such a level demonstrates either that Allchin was quoted out of context, or that Microsoft has truly grown desperate in its fear of the competitive threat from Linux."

"USB Support under the recently released 2.4 Linux kernel adds more than support for keyboards and mice. While USB-based storage devices aren't well suited as primary system storage devices, they are a handy way to add storage to an existing system without cracking the case."

"How could I even imagine that I'd be able to play my DVDs on anything other than the commercial software that came with my video card? To my surprise, not only was DVD playback possible, it was much easier then I expected."

In what appears to be a move to dodge yet another Department of Justice investigation, Microsoft Corporation may be selling its shares in Corel Corporation--at half the price it bought those shares.