While the so-called "Linux Hysteria" seemed to fade long before the Nasdaq started to sputter, the open-source platform capitalized on Microsoft's antitrust troubles by moving steadily into the server arena and grabbing the attention of Internet-centric operations.

Barely a day goes by in the high-tech arena without the announcement of a multimillion-dollar funding deal for a Linux start-up. The latest example is OpenSales, an open-source e-commerce software company, which today received $10 million in financing.

Joe Barr tries out WhatIfLinux, a subscription-based tool for helping system administrators keep their Linux boxes current with the ever-changing application landscape.

Metrowerks announced it is a founding member of the Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC). The ELC, formed at the recent Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago, is a coalition of embedded software companies and engineers with the shared mission of promoting and implementing the Linux operating system in embedded applications.

Prompting Dutch electronics superpower Philips into the Open Source arena is one thing. Convincing it to give would-be Linux developers a chance to bring its products up-to-speed with the Linux Community without signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is quite another.

Lineo, an embedded Linux firm, has received a $37 million investment from a slew of Asian manufacturers, close on the heels of a similar investment in a major competitor.

MontaVista Software has launched an initiative to make the Linux operating system work better in small devices that must respond to commands immediately, in "real time." Real-time operating systems are used to control devices such as a car engine's fuel mixture or assembly line robots.

John Patrick, the closest thing IBM has to a cult hero, calls Linux a disruptive technology. Patrick's referring to the phenomenon described by Clayton M. Christensen in the book "The Innovator's Dilemma" as a technology that sneaks up on established vendors because they are too blinded by their own visions to realize that the technology is a threat in the first place.

The U.S. government's proposal Friday to split software giant Microsoft into two companies is already proving a boon to upstart Linux companies, as several Linux stocks were trading significantly higher in midday market action Monday.

As Linux slowly moves into the mainstream, several distinct classes of Linux users are emerging. At the top of the spectrum, we have the "die hard" users, those who have been using some Unix variant for years. At the low end, we have those who have picked up a copy of Linux at the local CompUSA, and probably plan on dual-booting between it and Windows. There is a vast gap between these two ends of the spectrum, and when they meet, there's sure to be a "culture clash."