I’ve known for ages that Linux had migrated from enthusiasts to big business. It wasn’t until this weekend’s Florida Linux Show, where I spoke on desktop Linux, that I realized how fully Linux has become part of the IT mainstream.

The first thing that brought this home to me was a session on “Using Red Hat ClusterSuite and GFS (Global File System) to Provide Highly Available Virtual Machines.” I hadn’t expected a big turnout for this session. It’s a highly technical subject that only matters to big businesses with sophisticated IT departments. Besides, it was Saturday morning in Orlando, Florida!

I was wrong. The session had about 60 people attending and they were there to learn. This was a serious audience ready to learn about a serious subject that most of them were already implementing in their businesses.

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