(August 14) – “A group of key Linux software developers and major computer manufacturers are planning to announce on Tuesday at a Silicon Valley computer conference the first effort to compete directly with Microsoft’s Office suite of applications for the personal computer.

Until now, the free Linux operating system has had its greatest impact in the computer server market, where many Internet service providers and World Wide Web applications and service companies routinely use the program.

While Linux has gained ground on the PC desktop as an alternative to Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which holds a large share of the market, it has not yet been used more widely by businesses and consumers because it has not developed the wide application support enjoyed by both Windows and Apple Computer’s Macintosh operating system,” The New York Times reports.

“That may soon change. On Tuesday, a group of Linux organizations will announce the creation of the Gnome Foundation, which will have the support of I.B.M., Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and several other major computer vendors.

The foundation plans to announce a set of initiatives, including a unified desktop user interface and a set of productivity programs intended to compete as a free alternative to Microsoft Office.

Gnome is a set of software standards developed by an international group of programmers led by Miguel de Icaza. The Gnome software has been gaining momentum in both the Linux and Unix communities as a way to offer a common software development environment for programmers.

Sun Microsystems also plans to announce that it will adopt the Gnome desktop user interface for its Solaris operating system. The move is part of the Linux effort to create a larger market for application developers.

Last month, the company announced that it was releasing the source code for its StarOffice software, allowing programmers around the world to alter the software and share their work.

The announcements to be made on Tuesday underscore both the progress that Linux has made toward becoming a viable alternative to Windows and the challenges that remain in persuading business and consumer computer users to adopt the free operating system.”