"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

Once again the mega-computer show known as Comdex (http://www.comdex.com/) took over Las Vegas, Nevada, this past November 15 through 20th. On hand to represent the Linux community were 12 vendors who made up this year's Linux Pavilion: Linux Journal, Red Hat, S.u.S.E., Caldera, VA Research, Linux Hardware Solutions, Linux International, InfoMagic, Enhanced Software Technologies, Turbo Linux, Interix and ApplixWare. Special Linux-related events included the presentation of the first annual Linux Journal Editor's Choice Awards by our esteemed editor, Marjorie Richardson.

As usual, there were throngs of corporate buyers, sellers and interested onlookers from nearly every nation on hand for the event. Hundreds of exhibits, from small, quiet displays of software to a real high-wire balancing act performed above the crowd, entertained and informed visitors.

But there are several factors that set the recent Comdex apart from years past. Number one, there was a noticeable drop-off in business attendance. Several major corporations, including Netscape and Intel, either did not show up at all or rented small meeting spaces rather than building booths. Mirroring the corporate no-shows was the precipitous decline in individual attendance. The missing visitors were readily noticed -- taxi lines were shorter, hotel rooms were easily secured, etc.

What makes Comdex 1998 stand out even more is the dramatic increase in the amount of attention that was received by Linux. Not only was the Linux Pavilion packed from the opening on Monday until the close on Friday, but other exhibitors had more to say about Linux during the course of the show.

Evidence was everywhere that Linux is reaching past the IT departments at major corporations and getting the attention of management and other non-technical decision makers. This in turn meant that press attention was focused on Linux as never before. Several vendors in the Linux Pavilion were interviewed for a local TV news segment, while most major computer oriented print outlets made at least some mention of the Linux presence at Comdex.

Even more impressive were the numbers of average computer users who approached vendors at the Linux Pavilion with an open mind and lots of questions ... and then walked away with a distribution CD! Linux International was distributing several different CD-ROMs and asking for a $1 donation. They "sold out" of CDs quite quickly, and were eventually rescued by the generosity of S.u.S.E. As a result of the efforts of LI and the rest of the Linux Pavilion, there are now perhaps as many as several thousand new Linux users.

So, what does Comdex 1998 mean for the future of Linux? Well, based on my experience there and the people I spoke to, I believe we can expect several of the following events, if not all, to occur between now and the turn of the century:

• Far more major companies will be porting their software to Linux. At Comdex, I was approached by many programmers and marketing types alike who were sent to the Pavilion to assess the potential for porting their wares to Linux. Look for a few surprises to come up in the next year; rumors were flying about various vendors currently alpha testing their products for Linux.
• Even more hardware will be sold with native Linux drivers available, especially in the field of RAID controllers, now that Oracle is ported to Linux. Again, I spoke to many programmers sent by hardware vendors to seek out counsel and advice on writing drivers for Linux.
• Linux will continue to grow in appeal to "end-user" types who are fed up with the inadequacies of proprietary, closed-source Operating Systems. Many a newcomer was exposed to Linux at Comdex; many of them will wind up long-term users. Look for this to emerge as a trend.
• Major vendors will consider their Linux ventures to be a major strategic business move, not merely a sideline venture. At Comdex, many of Oracle's major announcements centered around their support for Linux and role of Linux in it's future. Look for more companies to expand into Linux in some capacity and proudly advertise and publicize those moves, rather than burying the Linux news under other announcements.
• Linux-specific skills will become a hot resume item for programmers, system administraters, and other techie types in the job market. Many professionals from several different organizations asked me for personal assistance in helping them locate Linux-savvy professionals for their personnel pools; one of my friends now has a lucrative job with someone I met briefly at Comdex.
• Linux will continue to improve, while certain major Operating Systems will see no such improvement, even as major new releases are published. Yes, this is an opinionated prognostication, but there is evidence to support such an assertion: few vendors at Comdex 1998 had anything "new" or dramatically improved to show. Their plight is not going to change overnight, no matter what kind of marketing hype surrounds their upcoming releases.

Yet the reception received by Linux vendors and enthusiasts at Comdex 1998 can only be described as overwhelmingly positive. As a final bit of evidence to support that claim, let me relate the following personal anecdote ...

On the flight down to Las Vegas from Seattle, it was my pleasure to sit next to a Vice President from Microsoft. This gentleman was a pleasure to speak with about Microsoft, Open Source software and Linux. He was filled not with judgment and disdain, but genuine interest and thoughtful questions about what free software and Linux mean for the future of computing. Not only that, but he did assert that while companies like Microsoft are in business to make money, he himself is very interested in learning more about Linux and other free software. He said that many of his colleagues and contemporaries all over the business spectrum are equally intrigued. Something tells me his attitude is not unique ... Linux and Free/Open Source Software are poised to take a remarkable position in the future of computing and technology.

With all of these facts taken into consideration, there is one logical conclusion: Comdex 1998 was one more step on Linux's way to complete world domination.