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Operating SystemsLinux Gets Boost From Dell, OracleLisa DiCarlo, 06.05.02, 3:00 PM ET NEW YORK - In yet another strong show of support for the Linux operating system, market leaders Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ), Dell Computer (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) and Red Hat Software (nasdaq: RHAT - news - people ) today combined strengths to make the software more reliable, higher performance and easier to buy. For the first time, Dell will resell licenses for Oracle's 9i database and application server software for Red Hat Linux. That lets customers avoid having to buy from...

Digital ToolsLinux Gets FriendlierStephen Manes, 06.10.02, 12:00 AM ET Installing Linux on PCs was once an exercise in nonstop profanity. Now it works--mostly. Since its introduction as a free operating system in 1991, the Linux variant of Unix has become such a popular way to run servers that a business has grown up around supplying, supporting and charging for it. Even IBM has gotten into the act. Now, frustrated by a monopoly whose innovation in the face of slower growth amounts to finding more efficient ways of extracting money from captive customers, users are beginning to wonder whether Linux could...