For Open Magazine Subscribers

On many systems, small changes have little effect until a "tipping
point" is reached. At that point, just another small change will tip 
the
system and a large effect is observed. For many months, we've seen
forceful parliamentary debates, patent rulings, and stories from
well-oiled activist machines waging campaigns and issuing resolutions 
in
support of Open Source dominance in Europe. This week, we examine a 
true
tipping point, as we examine what's between the lines of the European
Commission's eEurope 2005 Action Plan.

In the petroleum industry, the tipping point for Linux has been Royal
Dutch Shell's move to clustering. Now, from WesternGeco to Landmark
Graphics, other key players in oil exploration and production are 
moving
to Linux for the heavy lifting data-crunching once reserved for UNIX. 
We
have the story in our Linux Gusher market profile of where Linux now
stands in the global oil exploration sector.

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Regards,

The editors of Open magazine