To push desktop Linux, radical shift may be required

In the server market, Linux and Microsoft were supposed to be mauling each other like jackals by now. Instead they are contentedly polishing off the
bison of Solaris, IRIX, and other proprietary Unix server software. Linux and Microsoft Windows have both grown in the server market–Windows faster
than Linux.

Linux on the desktop is a similarly confusing story. A conference on desktop Linux, the first of its kind, was held in the Boston, Massachusetts area
on November 10. The forum allowed the leaders of Linux and free software development to evaluate the progress these have made on the desktop.

Linux as an end-user system is at an early stage, but inroads are impressive. One statistic puts annual growth of Linux on the desktop at 44%. It is
already in heavy use as a limited, kiosk type of application (point-of-sale terminals, for instance) and as a technical workstation. More general use
is expected to come within the next couple years.