Network computing has been a hot topic for some time now, so it should come as no surprise that we included it in our 1999 editorial calendar. Network computers provide Internet/intranet services at a fraction of the cost of a PC. With the popularity of the World Wide Web, the network computer's time has come—companies dealing in network computers show high performance on the New York Stock Exchange.

One of Linux's biggest strengths has always been as an operating system for all types of servers: e-mail, web, boot, you name it. This makes it ideal for use in networking computers. IGEL's Etherminal proved Linux's worth as a thin client back in 1994 and has kept on proving it ever since. Last year, Corel's NetWinder joined the ranks.

Whether you want to learn more about using Linux in your network, how to easily access your network services or how to speed up your network, this month we have the articles you need. In addition to the features listed below, we also have two articles on our web site (see “Strictly On-line” in the Table of Contents): one explaining the DECnet protocol and one providing Perl scripts for accessing your network. Also on the web is an article about how one international company is using Linux for network management.

Along with these articles on the web site is the second part of last month's internationalization feature by Stephen Turnbull, “Alphabet Soup”. In this follow-up, he discusses standardization of character sets—don't miss it.

“Strictly On-line” articles can be found at http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue60/.

First it was Netscape then the major database providers, and now major hardware vendors are jumping on the Linux bandwagon. At the end of January, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Silicon Graphics, Inc. both announced they would be providing Linux as an option on their computers with Intel chips. Rumor has it that Compaq, IBM and Dell will be following suit. Even Apple has said they will make Linux an option. These companies are not doing this to become popular with the open-software crowd—they are doing it to make money. They have seen that a market clearly exists and are taking advantage of that fact. More on making money with open-source software will be found in our June Enterprise Solutions supplement.

Marjorie Richardson, Editor

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