In the year to come, we expect to see Linux maintain its torrid development pace, with major new enterprise releases from Red Hat, which is set to ship Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 in January, and Novell, which will also ship an update to its Open Enterprise Server early next year.
What's more, we expect to see one or two new releases from each of the all-free leading-edge distributions we track, such as Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE, along with new developments from the swelling horde of smaller Linux flavors, in both commercial and non-commercial quarters.
For more on Linux, see Red Hat Exec: Oracle Linux Move 'Positive for Us'
Among all these new Linux releases, there will be no shortage of new and improved functionality for platform devotees to consume, but, since Linux remains somewhat of an outsider among OS platforms, what's most worth watching for in 2007 are the new deployment routes along which the platform will wend its way toward greater market share.
The fortunes of Linux look brightest in the data center, where, having already proven its worth, the platform is set to build on its successes and ride the growing popularity of server virtualization to greater prominence.
We expect the open-source Xen virtualization project to grow more mature during the next year, thanks in part to the inclusion of Xen and a suite of attractive-looking Xen management tools in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
Read the full story on eWeek.com: Outlook 2007: Linux and Open Source
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