Monday morning, at the Apple Computer Worldwide Developers' Conference, Steve Jobs flashed the next slide in his keynote presentation. The screens showed two words: "It's True."

"It" is Apple's decision to leave behind IBM and its PowerPC technology in favor of Intel processors. Even as Apple and Intel begin to replace weeks of rumor and speculation with hard facts, Apple-watchers are moving on to the next round of rumor-mongering: what happens next, when it will happen, and what it will mean for Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and the other major players in the story.

I'm more interested, however, in a question very few people seem to be asking: How will Apple's move affect Linux, BSD, and other open-source interest groups that are just beginning to consider what this all means for them? I can't wait to watch this relationship evolve -- not because it will necessarily be a happy or smooth process, but because Apple's disruptive presence is likely to spark the kind of innovation and creative decision-making that most of us, if we're being honest, doubted we'd ever see again.

Some of that innovation will, no doubt, come out of Redmond. Microsoft's long-planned (and still far-away) Longhorn update for Windows, as of Monday morning, is no longer destined to compete mostly against an older,less useful version of itself. Instead, It will now have to outshine OS X, a product that many people consider the finest desktop operating system ever built.

But I'm hoping to see the most interesting and aggressive responses to Apple's market presence coming out of the Linux community. If they're paying attention, the management at companies such as Linspire and Xandros must be in crisis mode by now. These are companies that built their corporate identities and marketing strategies around the fact that the only other game in town -- Windows -- was dangerous, unsafe, and unreliable.

Last week, that was a solid position for any Linux vendor to take. This week, it's a house of cards built on quicksand. The images and concepts that have become almost second nature for Linux users discussing "the competition" are at best ineffective against OS X, and at worst they're likely to backfire, due to the similarities between these two Unix-like cousins.

Beneath its user interface, OS X is, without splitting too many hairs, simply a tweaked but still open-source version of FreeBSD, with all of the security, performance, and reliability benefits that fact suggests. Although the OS X interface most definitely is not Open Source, it is elegant, practical, and remarkably easy to use, considering what's going on beneath the hood. And while there will always be the same differences of opinion that any GUI inspires, the wisecracks about OS X being "more Linux than Linux" hit the hardest when one compares Apple's polished interface to any Linux user interface option available today.

This is not just a gap between Linux and OS X, however; it's an opportunity. Ironically, OS X may finally give Linux what it so badly needs: experience competing solely on its own merits and strengths, rather than by competing based on the fact that it's not Windows.

A final note: i wanted to give everyone an extra heads-up on our top "Editor's Pick" this week: a contest where you'll have a chance to win an iPod or other cool gifts. And what's in it for us? We want to read about all of your nominees to our Software Hall of Fame: The greatest, lamest, most important, most whatever piece of software in your life, and why it got that way. Not a bad way to win free stuff, is it? We think it's pretty good. Drop by, check out the contest, and good luck!

Matthew McKenzie
Editor, Linux Pipeline
mattcmp@sonic.net
www.LinuxPipeline.com

Windows 2000 Users Won't See Microsoft IE 7 Update
Microsoft confirms that its Internet Explorer 7 release will shut out the company's still-supported Windows 2000 user base, ending speculation--including some by company officials--that it would offer the revamped browser to users of the still-popular OS.

"It's True": Jobs Confirms Apple Move To Intel Processors
Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirms that the company will move to Intel x86-based microprocessors in its Macintosh PCs, ending more than a decade of production using IBM's PowerPC processors.

Windows Beats Linux On Patch Issues, Ballmer Says
Presiding over the launch of Microsoft's new software update service, CEO Steve Ballmer asserts that Linux vulnerabilities are both far more numerous and more costly to patch than those found in Windows.

Microsoft Makes Last-Ditch Effort To Avoid EU Fines
With a midnight deadline looming, the company submits a proposal to meet European regulators' antitrust demands and avoid the possibility of massive daily fines.

Persistent Security Bug Resurfaces -- This Time In Firefox
Mozilla's current browsers, including Firefox, are once again susceptible to a seven-year-old vulnerability that could let attackers spoof Web sites, a security company says.

Office 12 XML Formats Risky For Microsoft, Say Analysts
Microsoft's move to XML-based default file formats for next year's Office 12 release creates a "big risk," says one analyst, that users may defect to open-source competitors out of frustration or confusion.

Intel, Red Hat, SAP Fund Open-Source Risk Management Firm
Intel Corp., Red Hat Inc. and SAP AG join other investors in a $12 million round of funding for Black Duck Software Inc., a key player in the new and rapidly growing market for tools designed to keep open-source developers out of legal hot water.

Brazilians Eager To Pursue Linux Laptop Project
Brazil could be a key partner in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's proposal to develop a $100 laptop for schoolchildren in developing nations, the MIT scientist heading the project said Thursday.

Municipal Wi-Fi Ban Proposed By Rep With Telecom Ties
Municipalities may be banned from launching public Wi-Fi networks, if a federal bill authored by a Texas lawmaker -- and ex-telecom industry employee -- becomes law.

Red Hat Spins Off Independent Fedora Foundation
In an effort to court developer support, Red Hat spins off its Fedora open source project into an independent foundation and steps up its lobbying efforts in support of patent reform.

SCO Losses Continue Despite Cost-Cutting
The SCO Group says its losses narrowed in the second quarter, but its revenues also declined amidst continuing legal woes.

Red Hat Unveils Directory Server
Red Hat releases an open-source directory server, the result of last year's purchase of Netscape assets, for its own enterprise Linux platform, as wel as for Sun Solaris and Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX system.

Alpha Software Offers Tool To Ease MySQL Programming
The company's new product is intended to allow VARs and business users to build Web-based applications tied directly to the open-source database, without requiring programming expertise.

Open-Source Releases Invade Reporting Market
A trio of vendors prepare to release open-source reporting tools, building a business model around selling support and enhanced versions of free, open-source software.

Super-Compact 'Puppy' A Breed Apart For Linux Users
The latest twist on Linux is an Australian developer's built-from-scratch distro that takes little memory, can boot directly off a USB thumb drive, and treats 'bloat' like a four-letter word.

Safe Surfing: Build A Linux Appliance
A locked-down Linux PC allows you to surf the Web, check email, scan and print, and much more, all safely and securely. You can build it yourself -- we'll show you how, step by step.

Safe Surfing: Build A Linux Appliance, Part Two
A locked-down Linux PC allows you to work online without getting worked over by malware. Here's Part Two of our step-by-step guide to building your very own "safe surfing" system.

Hit Manual: Installing And Configuring SpamAssassin
SpamAssassin and ClamAV are a Linux email server admin's best friends -- and a spammer's worst enemies. If you're comfortable working on the Linux command line and using a text editor, we'll show you how install and configure these powerful spam- and malware-killing tools.

The True Value Of Intellectual Property
Intellectual property such as source code rarely protects a company's competitive advantage, says Art Whittman. In fact, these days it's often just plain nuts.

Q&A: Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik
The head of the world's biggest enterprise Linux vendor discusses what it takes to build a successful company based on an open-source business model.

The results so far: If our deceptively scientific-looking poll is any indication, companies pushing 64-bit technology as the wave of the future better start pushing harder: A majority of you aren't even experimenting yet with 64-bit hardware or Linux distros.

Check Out Our Linux Product Finder
Don't reinvent the wheel. Find the right off-the-shelf product to do the job. How do you find the right one? Two words ... Product Finder:
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