"As the spotlight shines ever brighter on the Linux operating
system, vendors have begun to develop strategies to help their
customers assess the cost of migrating to Linux and open source
software and make a smooth transition to a Linux environment.
"In recent weeks, IBM, Lindows.com, and Sun Microsystems have
announced initiatives to help IT departments make more intelligent
Linux or open-source purchasing decisions.
"IBM rolled out a 'Windows to Linux' roadmap aimed at
enterprises with expiring Microsoft Windows NT licenses.
Lindows.com released a Desktop Linux Enterprise Assessment kit,
while Sun weighed in with a tool to help customers make a smoother
transition from Microsoft Office to StarOffice and OpenOffice. Even
Novell has begun supporting Linux and has developed cross-platform
system management tools..."
