Configuring a network in Linux used to be a task left for administrators, gurus, and to-the-core nerds. It required editing configuration files such as those found in /etc/sysconfig/network/ or /etc/network. Most new users wouldn't have known what to do with those files, let alone where they were located (and what they did.)

Clearly, the underlying technology of cloud computing will be based on open source software--that is, if the three cloud infrastructure hopefuls addressing a standing room-only crowd of more than 350 venture capital firms, large company CTOS and CIOs, and other cloud hopefuls--are as successful in their efforts as the show’s judges and audience anticipated.