In 2004 MRE Consulting has made a serious effort to develop solutions that are based on the growing acceptance of the increasingly popular and robust Linux operating system. We have in-house Unix expertise going back at least twenty years, and one of our consultants actually teaches Linux at the university level. Expanding into Linux for business applications fits smoothly with our business goals and with our customers' needs.

The main reasons for moving in this direction are twofold. First, customers are increasingly being squeezed by larger software firms with restrictive licensing costs, as the entire model for the software business continues to evolve. Our typical customer bears a disproportionately high burden as compared to Fortune 1000 companies, and is especially interested in ways to get a better value and return on investment.

Second, customers are always interested in something that just plain works, and Linux is a champ in this area. When we put a proven operating system like Red Hat Linux on one of our Fault Tolerant Server platforms, you end up with a reliable system indeed, yet with virtually no added cost for the operating system, regardless of the number of clients. For nearly all of our customers with aging Novell servers, or anyone running a Microsoft Windows-based server, Linux is now our first choice. Nothing beats Linux for low cost and reliability.

We continue to research and test for the so far elusive Linux on the desktop solution, and at long last we are getting closer to this desirable reality. People would prefer to not have to reboot often and suffer the usual trials and tribulations of running Windows, but are justifiably unwilling to give up their familiar application software in order to do so. Imagine if you could have the best of both worlds? Stay tuned--this reality is closer than you think. As we make progress in this area we will post progress and recommendations to our Web site.