“One by one, the wind is being knocked out of highflying Linux
companies, which have collectively lost billions in paper money
over the last few months. Many think that this portends bad times
for Linux in general. I’m not one of them. In fact, it’s a sign
that Linux has become accepted technology. In other words, it’s
just an operating system –or to be more technically accurate, a
kernel more closely related to the Unix Mach than to a
comprehensive operating system, such as Windows.”
“So why aren’t these companies making it? After all, Linux is
everywhere, and it’s growing fast. Then it hit me like a hammer
–after a long conversation with Red Hat’s Bob Young.”
“These companies are trying to salvage dead or dying
products by recasting them as Linux essentials. They’re going so
far as to tweak Linux and make parts of it proprietary. This
clearly is not the way of Linux life.”