Linux continues its march through the enterprise data center, with overall revenue for Linux desktops, servers, and packaged software expected to reach $35 billion by 2008, research company IDC said.The study reflects a measurement of shipments and the installed base of servers and PCs running Linux, reported InfoWorld’s Ed Scannell.With this new view, the server market for shipments and redeployments with Linux increases by 36 percent over net new shipments in 2004, according to IDC. When all manifestations of Linux operating systems are counted, Linux is clearly a mainstream solution,” said Vernon Turner, IDC’s group vice president and general manager of enterprise computing research. “We see a shift where Linux server operating environment deployments are moving to favor the use of enterprise server hardware. This transition is being driven by the increasing robustness of Linux and the increasingly critical nature of the applications deployed on Linux,” he said. The Linux surge was aided by the delivery of the long-awaited 2.6 version of the Linux kernel first by Novell Suse and then Red Hat. The new kernel gives distributors such as Novell Suse and Red Hat the ability to compete more effectively against Unix competitors such as Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard. It allows versions of Linux to handle significantly larger workloads, greater amounts of memory and storage, and more processors in a single box.In mid-November, in response to Linux’ growing strength Sun delivered Version 10 of its Unix-based Solaris operating system and announced the much anticipated update would be free of charge. Technology Industry