Linux vs. Linux

I would argue it's online, where you don't have to be worried about what's on the other side of the screen. That's how we use Google, and all those other great Linux applications.

If you put a stopwatch on Windows users, timing their use of various applications, and noting what the Web-based stuff on, they might be surprised to learn how much of their day is spent on Linux already. Most Windows work happens on the client, or within the local network.

This, I suspect, explains some of Novell's current problems. Novell is pushing Linux hard, but it's pushing a model for Linux not too unlike what it sold 20 years ago. That is, it sees Linux on the local server, Linux network applications, and eventually a Linux desktop.

But it doesn't have to be that way. If your applications are coming from the Web, they could easily be Linux-based, and you would not be the wiser.

This, I feel, will be a major battleground in 2006. It's why Microsoft bought Ray Ozzie's Groove Networks. (That's Ray above.) Groove made collaboration tools. Where that collaboration happens will be a key question for enterprise managers in 2006.

What's the answer today? What do you think your answer will be at the end of this year?