Looking at Linux in 2004

I know, I know, I’m about three weeks early for my annual predictions column, but I want to come right out and say it:
2004 is going to be a big year for Linux. Big in terms of its corporate enterprise adoption, which, according to every industry observer I spoke with,
should continue apace or faster. Big in terms of a hot topic for next year, specifically with the infamous SCO lawsuits coming to a head. And finally,
big in terms of investors on both sides of the Linux equation.

My look ahead was triggered by the just-released results of the Gartner/SoundView IT Symposium, a semiannual confab that serves as a great litmus test
for where things are headed in information technology. Six hundred IT execs were polled, and more respondents said they plan to spend “significantly
more” on Red Hat Linux products next year than said they’d be spending more on Microsoft.