Open sourcesoftware allows free access to a program's underlying code so that anyonewith sufficient tech chops can add to, repair, modify, share or copy it. For all the excitement it has generated, though, Linux is a dubious choicefor standard-bearer for the open source movement. Too complex to install,too hard to use, too tricky to configure, Linux is unlikely to develop intoa mainstream operating system. And without sufficientmarket share, it won't make a serious dent in the way software is built.
Truth is, the open source concept deserves a better champion.
At InternetWorld in Los Angeles recently, that champion may have come along. Get readyto download Netscape 6, Preview Release 1, the first mainstream open sourceWeb browser. If you're confused about what happened to Netscape 5, don'tsweat it. Netscape's previous version was Communicator 4.x, but version 5.0was so long in the birthing, that the company just skipped the numberaltogether. Thereby hangs a tale.