Linux's next trick, if Ready is right, will be to shrink into embedded devices like cell phones and PDAs. Step inside MontaVista's Sunnyvale, CA, facility and you immediately sense you're not in a typical Silicon Valley startup. No one asks you to sign in. You don't need an identification badge or an escort. You can attend engineering meetings at will, without being asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Nothing is stamped proprietary.
This access is extremely important in the world of embedded computing, where making the hardware and software work together as efficiently as possible is vital. With Linux they can see the source. They can reach right into it and change it. It gives them the control they're looking for. Linux is also attractive simply because it's there for the downloading.