No Windows Lite

ESR has a post on how Microsoft is competing against open source software now. It is not as interesting as the Halloween Documents of the past, but it does reflect the growing acceptance of Linux in the market. To be frank, now that IBM has embraced it, I largely consider Linux's position in the mainstream to be a done deal.

Linux has 100% succeeded in keeping Microsoft out of the server. IIS on NT, which was replacing whatever on Unix at a dramatic rate, has itself been eclipsed by Apache on Linux. The server market continues to grow, both IIS on NT and Apache on Linux are enjoying the lion's share of that growth, but Apache on Linux is taking more.

On the client, look for Linux on terminals first. Microsoft has only two options for customers looking for a fairly limited client operating system 1) the latest version of Windows and 2) an old version of Windows. The latest version of Windows is probably too expensive to give to a non-information worker (who just needs email, a browser, and a little non-office app) while an old version of Windows is insecure and hard to maintain. If you don't need Office, or really any other major application, Linux is for you.