For all the excitement it has generated, though, Linux is a dubious choicefor standard-bearer for the open source movement. Too complex to install,too hard to use, too tricky to configure, Linux is unlikely to develop intoa mainstream operating system.

For now, it plays best to techie tinkerers, soapbox-thumping socialengineers, Microsoft haters, and network administrators, who appreciate itssuperior stability, flexibility, and power (not to mention its egalitarianheritage) and don't concern themselves with pedestrian concerns such asinterface, ease of use, and device driver support. But because Linux haslittle chance to unseat almighty Windows, it's also unlikely to makebusiness decision makers -- who stare at their Windows screens allday -- rethink their corporate software purchases. And without sufficientmarket share, it won't make a serious dent in the way software is built.

Truth is, the open source concept deserves a better champion. At InternetWorld in Los Angeles recently, that champion may have come along. Get readyto download Netscape 6, Preview Release 1, the first mainstream open sourceWeb browser. If you're confused about what happened to Netscape 5, don'tsweat it. Netscape's previous version was Communicator 4.x, but version 5.0was so long in the birthing, that the company just skipped the numberaltogether. So why did Netscape 6 (the confusing moniter Communicator is nowgone) take so long coming? Thereby hangs a tale.

Back in March 1998, Netscape, feeling the heat from fast approachingMicrosoft Internet Explorer, announced they would expose the source code fortheir next version, code-named Mozilla. Suddenly Netscape would havethousands of developers sifting through endless lines of code, addingfillips here, improvements there, and neat user enhancements everywhere.Even Microsoft, with their flotilla of highly skilled programmers, wouldn'tbe able to compete against a sea of motivated open sourcers.

"By giving away the source code for future versions," Netscape CEO JimBarksdale said at the time, "we can ignite the creative energies of theentire Net community and fuel unprecedented levels of innovation in thebrowser market...Netscape's core businesses will benefit from theproliferation of the market-leading client software." Then the wheels cameoff. Though Netscape had some of the best minds in the world working for it,Communicator 5 was never ready for public release. Weeks became months;months became years; Netscape became a laughing stock. And Microsoft, whileintegrating its browser with Windows, kept advancing: Internet Explorer 4begat IE 4.5, which begat 5.0 and later 5.01. Netscape's once dominant shareof the browser market plummeted to less than 40 per cent. One can argue thatMicrosoft has achieved its position illegally, by bundling its browser withWindows, but the fact remains that IE 5 was simply a better browser-faster,more forgiving, and loaded with more goodies.

Netscape 6 addresses these inequities. Though still a pre-release piece ofsoftware, it's packed with technical innovations, starting with Gecko, theopen source rendering engine. (A rendering engine interprets HTML code,creating Web pages onscreen.) Tiny, speedy, and flexible, Gecko makesNetscape 6 fly. Perhaps more significant to the fortunes of NetscapeCommunications, the rendering engine is cross-platform and easily embeddedanywhere, meaning it's likely to end up powering scores of alternate Webdevices, from handhelds to set-top boxes. That level of adoption (and themoney, it's likely to generate) will propel open source out of the ISclosets and into the boardrooms of corporate America.

The laundry list of Netscape 6 innovations is impressive. A tiny download(about half the size of Communicator 4.x), Netscape 6 embraces all thelatest World Wide Web Consortium-blessed standards, such as HTML 4.0,Cascading Style Sheets, and XML. Improved cookie management and passwordprotection will woo the security conscious. A svelte mail client and slickintegration between email and Instant Messenger (IM, but not ICQ) will drawthe AOL crowd. Most significant to many end users, Netscape 6 is a realconsumer product, with a consumer-friendly interface. A tool called MySidebar, for instance, displays Web content alongside the main browsingwindow (our reviewer likens MySidebar to the picture-in-picture featurefound in some TVs). Whether you use My Sidebar or not, Netscape 6's look andfeel is fully customizable. Upcoming versions will even feature "skins" youcan apply to the browser to personalize its appearance further. This sort ofattention to interface, while seemingly frivolous, is atypical of opensource software projects.

Perhaps it shouldn't be, since open source software still has a selling jobto do among the folks who make software-buying choices. These businessdecision makers are not engineers, who look at underlying code and use termssuch as "elegant" to express approval, or "kludgy" for disdain. The bulk ofsoftware purchasers are business users whose typical technical expertise isdrawn from the desktop applications they use everyday. These users wantsomething they can figure out, something they don't have to call IS to fixevery other day, something they can put on their home machine for work orplay when they're not in the office. Interface and aesthetics count in thatscenario. So does ease of use.

Here's where Netscape 6 will make a difference. Even if it doesn't unseatInternet Explorer, Netscape 6 could open some eyes about the mainstreampotential of open source software. Its success could point the way forfuture development and a true flowering of innovation. Linux may have laidthe foundation, but Netscape 6 represents the true coming-of-age for theopen source movement.

Steve Fox is Editor, CNET Online