“Linux hardware vendor VA Research said on Wednesday it had
agreed to acquire its largest competitor, Linux Hardware
Systems.”
“VA’s president and CEO Larry Augustin said that with the new
acquisitions, the company would set up two separate business
units…”
“VA Labs would work on building systems based on Intel’s IA-64
processor…VA Labs would also work to make Linux more intuitive on
the desktop. “Our goal is to help clean up some of the UI pieces by
linking key developers with people who understand human
interaction,” Augustin said. “That’s what’s needed to push Linux
onto the desktop.” VA Labs will initially work with the KDE
interface…”
“While most adoption of Linux had been on servers, Augustin said
he believed IT organizations would embrace Linux on the desktop as
well within a year. “I think the commercial desktop Linux market
will be big,” he said.”