Regular readers will know I am both a fan of Linux and Solaris, for different reasons and, often, different solutions and environments. Back at the beginning of October I wrote this mammoth piece on my Computerworld blog: Distributions and standardization. It looks at the movement of Linux (an open source OS) towards a standardized base just at a time when OpenSolaris has been released, an OS based on standards that is now open source. There’s the potential here for OpenSolaris to have the advantage over Linux in this regard. I was asked by Computerworld to condense that piece down into an article to appear in the printed magazine, which now appears online as OpenSolaris Has a Leg Up on Linux. The latter has solicited more comments (directly by email) than the blog post, but the common thread is the same – Solaris may have an advantage, but it could be its only one. I’m not here to take sides, merely to point out the situation – I always will choose the operating system according to its target use and environment – but the OpenSolaris/Linux debate is going to be an interesting one to watch.