"The Internet and a program called Linux changed the rules of the game ? and gave IBM a new set of rules to master. In this game, keeping secrets is forbidden and winning means helping the competition."

"As of 2.4, ipchains is a thing of the past. The replacement for ipchains is Netfilter's iptables. What does this mean to the end user? Typically it means little beyond the fact that suddenly their ipmasq script doesn't work. So, for starters let's get into setting up ipmasq under 2.4.x kernels."

FineGround's contention is that users will pay the $50,000 (base price) for the Condenser to scale back bandwidth costs. Targeted to embracers of the open-source movement, the product is currently available on Linux platforms.

"Microsoft indeed doesn't have to worry about Linux on the desktop?that's probably never going to happen. But Linux is taking Microsoft's business in the server and embedded space."

The company has been blitzing the market with new Linux-based products with the belief that the operating system kernel can be a powerful and less costly e-business platform. CA's Unicenter TNG e-business management solution won the Best System Integration Solution at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.

"Are you more interested in having a wide variety of software available to run on your computer, or in helping some organization attain the power and control that it seeks? And if it's the latter, to whom do you want to give the control -- a hegemonistic corporation whose goals are strictly its own, or a batch of ivory-tower Bolsheviks who also do not have your best interests in mind."

The IBM S/390 has received the most attention from the Linux community, after it was announced that David Boyes at Dimension Enterprises had run 41,400 separate instances of Linux simultaneously on one mainframe machine before it ran out of resources.

While Microsoft must win over customers to its new products, it's coming under increasing pressure from Linux, which is making inroads into key business areas.

"Linux represents the next step in this e-business evolution. Linux will do for software what the Internet did for networks. Linux is all about application connectivity. And this is why we say Linux is for real and Linux is ready for real business."

The main reason for the change is that OpenServer customers were confused about which company would support that software. In addition, the acquisition of OpenServer allows Caldera Systems to control the software's future, making it easier for the company to proceed with its plan to encourage customers to switch either to Linux or to UnixWare.