Alan Cox is a long-time Linux kernel hacker, Red Hat Software employee, and general all-around great guy. More importantly, he's one of the people that works behind the scenes to make Linux a great product through his relentless efforts in improving and enhancing the Linux kernel--as evidenced by the numerous "ac" monikers after kernel revisions.

Until recently, Linux users who wanted a good set of productivity applications had to run a Windows office suite under Wine--a conversion layer of Linux code that lets you run Windows applications. But soon there'll be an office suite built for Linux from the ground up--Applixware Office 5.0 from Applix.

There's only one true Linux operating system (referred to as the kernel), but many distributions that combine versions of the kernel with Linux applications. Corel Linux OS is one of the newest, but you'll find several other popular Linux distributions.

For a lot of people, Linux is still an enigma. Wildly popular, it nevertheless seems to make no money. And what are Linux products, anyway? Software, hardware, services – or some combination?

The speech recognition software company is hoping to gain attention this week with a product prototype that combines some of the trendiest technology around--PDAs (personal digital assistants), speech recognition, wireless Internet access and the Linux operating system--into one package. Lernout & Hauspie is touting the new device at the Demo 2000 conference in Indian Wells, Calif., an annual show devoted to unveiling new technologies and Net companies.

Software development toolmaker Inprise and software maker Corel merged today to tackle the burgeoning Linux operating system together and to better compete against their biggest foe--Microsoft. Under the deal, Inprise will become a subsidiary of software maker Corel in a stock transaction valued at $2.44 billion, the companies said.

IBM seized the spotlight at the LinuxWorld Expo in New York City last week by issuing a spate of announcements that could significantly affect e-commerce professionals and the open-source community.

The Evolution of Linux documentary team and LinuxNews.com present an online wrapup of the first two days of the LinuxWorld Expo in New York.

Linux is a Unix like operating system, originally developed and conceived by Linus Torvalds. Developers around the world are now developing Linux under the GNU (General Public License).

Selling Linux is a lot like selling bottled water, SGI's product group senior veep John "Beau" Vrolyk told LinuxWorld attendees last week. Tap water is free -- or at the very least, low cost -- yet the bottled water industry enjoys a booming business. New York City tap water doesn't taste appreciably different from bottled water, but people keep buying Evian.