The scent of money attracts more money. And this shift isn't limited to the server-applications arena, either. Firms from the Windows and Mac markets are beginning to migrate as well. Firms like Photodex, for example, which is bringing CompuPic to Linux this year. Developers will soon be coming to Linux from Microsoft Windows, from the Mac, and from elsewhere in Unix.
IDEs are the eye of the storm for the near future.
The good news is, the process is happening as we speak. We've already seen Metrowerks announce and launch CodeWarrior, its first development platform for Linux. It is the antithesis to the meme that competition is good. Redneck Software has just announced an open source project for application development called Moonshine. Yesterday, June 22, Cygnus officially announced Code Fusion, its entry in the parade of IDEs.