Linux_s PC Expo presence reflects emergence.

The story of this year_s PC Expo can be reduced to one simple observation: For the first time, the personal computer industry_ primary trade show had a Linux Pavilion. That fact speaks volumes about the emergence of this underground operating system, and the efforts of its supporters to transform it into a viable alternative to Microsoft_s Windows. The Linux Pavilion was a small place, with eight companies crammed into a space that could get lost inside Microsoft Corp._s enormous booth. That fact underscores the enormity of the Linux community_s task, particularly as it seeks to move the operating system from servers and workstations into the larger world of personal computers. The companies are becoming more and more interested in Linux. That interest was palpable at this year_s PC Expo.Caldera and RedHat both demonstrated friendlier commercial versions of Linux -- their first with graphical user interfaces that have the point-and-click ease of Windows. Hewlett-Packard Co. and SGI introduced desktop workstations based on Intel Corp._s processors that will come loaded with the Linux OS. IBM_s Lotus Development Corp. stopped short of promising to make its well-known business software suite -- Lotus Notes -- available on Linux. But it did promise to make its Domino development platform available for Linux servers -- a move that will allow the popular Domino class of Web-based applications to run on Linux. It will also offer a Linux-based Web browser for desktop users. ``We think the Linux desktop community will be a largely Internet-based environment,' noted Richard Sullivan, IBM_s vice president of Integrated Solutions Marketing for the company_s Software Solutions Group. To make that vision a reality, IBM also announced at the show that it would add Caldera_s version of Linux to the group of Linux operating systems it will support for corporate customers. Some of IBM_s popular software management and development tools -- MQ Series and VisualAge Java -- will be available for Caldera_s Linux as well. And with Intel_s financial support, Sunnyvale_s Cygnus Solutions used the show to roll out CodeFusion, a software tool set that makes it easier for corporate software developers and traditional shrink-wrapped software companies to develop Linux applications.