March 20, 2001, 9:50 AM —
What a year it's been. I've had much to be thankful for during this orbit of the sun, and since I didn't write a Thanksgiving piece, I thought it would be fitting as 2001 rolls in to recount a few of good things -- large and small -- that have come our way.
In 1999 the world finally realized that Linux was a major force as a server. FUD about the security and availability of open source platforms notwithstanding, the Linux growth rate in the server market was astounding. During 2000, major advances on the server laid the foundation for a similar acceptance of Linux as a desktop platform. And 2000 saw big happenings there.
How about Helix GNOME, for example? Few things have had such an impact on my desktop as Helix Code's version of GNOME. In one swoop the company removed both stumbling blocks that had prevented so many of us from adopting GNOME for regular use: it made the desktop easy to install and easy to maintain. Not long after the arrival of Helix GNOME, I became a full-time GNOME user.
