FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Linux has become the second most popular operating system for server computers, lagging behind only Windows NT.

About 1.35 million copies of Linux were sold last year, which is 25 per cent of the 5.4 million total copies of operating system software sold, according to preliminary data from market research firm IDC.

Linux shipments surpassed that of Novell NetWare and all types of Unix operating systems last year. Nearly twice as many copies of Linux shipped last year than in 1998, and it grew at roughly four times the rate of the server OS market as a whole, says IDC.

"Linux is moving much more rapidly than we thought," IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky said. "We had projected it would be number two in 2002 or 2003. It happened in 1999."

But is anyone actually making money selling Linux? Not much.

Sales of Linux brought in only US$32 million for the whole year, while Windows NT brought in US$1.7 billion.

Hummingbird, SuSE join forces

TORONTO — Hummingbird Communications Ltd. is including an enterprise information portal in a Linux distribution.

The Toronto-based software company teamed up with SuSE, an open source solutions provider, to include the Hummingbird EIP (Enterprise Information Portal) core engine in SuSE's Linux distribution. This "provides organizations with a head start to deploy enterprise information portals on the high-performance Linux platform," said Hummingbird president Barry Litwin.

"Considering Linux was the fastest-growing server operating environment in 1998, this agreement should prove very beneficial for Hummingbird," said Amie White, senior research analyst with International Data Corp. "As Linux extends into new areas within the enterprise, bridging disparate network environments through a single portal interface becomes essential."

Red Hat debuts Wide Open News

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Linux giant Red Hat Inc. has debuted Wide Open News, an online resource for up-to-the-minute news and analysis on Linux and open source software.

Wide Open News, in beta since November, is now available at www.wideopen.com and at www.redhat.com.

The site is geared for IT managers and other computer/ business professionals seeking news, analysis and other useful information about Linux and open source.

Red Hat and Wide Open News have also announced a content partnership with TheStreet.com, a Web-based financial news, commentary and information service staffed by an editorial team of 80 financial journalists.

According to the company, TheStreet.com will hopefully add sophisticated Wall Street coverage of Linux, open source and other technologies for Wide Open News readers.