Kernel 2.4.10 was released on Sunday, and is available from a number of sites around the Web including www.kernel.org. The kernel is the heart of GNU/Linux, a Unix-like operating system that is becoming increasingly popular for business use.
IBM has committed to spending $1bn on Linux development this year, and Aberdeen analyst Bill Claybrook has predicted that Linux will largely replace Unix in the next seven to eight years.
Linux is developed on the open-source model, in which developers are required to make their operating system improvements available to other developers. It is seen as an alternative to Microsoft's dominant Windows, especially in the Web server market, where it is popular because of its stability and low cost.
It becomes more and more apparent that if a network administrator is not running their network on Linux (or another Unix) that they better have very good arguments for doing so, especially if they value their job.