I've been following the debates and thinking about Linux on the desktop for a few years now. In the last 12 months, the movement appears to be gaining momentum because of more proactive interest in the Linux desktop by the key players--the Linux distributions and major developers. For instance, RedHat integrated a desktop installation configuration into 8.0, customizing their GUI to make it even more user friendly. While it is an important indicator for the Linux commercial industry leader to make this move, even bigger news may be the formation of The Desktop Linux Consortium (DLC).

Internet.com reports that DLC members are convinced that since the Linux server market is strong, it's now time to promote and develop the desktop. Big corporate names and software organizations in the Linux community are involved: "ArkLinux, CodeWeavers, Debian.org, DesktopLinux.com, KDE, Linux Professional Institute (LPI), Lycoris, The Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP), MandrakeSoft, NeTraverse, OpenOffice.org, Questnet, Samba.org, theKompany, SuSE, TransGaming Technologies, TrustCommerce, Xandros, and Ximian" (note that RedHat seems conspicuously absent).

With this kind of collective effort, I can only imagine that we would see even quicker advances in developing the Linux desktop environment. No wonder Microsoft wrote in their recent SEC filing that the competitiveness of open source may force them to lower prices.