Yes that's a good thing, and, yes, it is something that many enterprises and end users will benefit from. As time progresses, the stability of Linux, as well as its favorable licensing terms, may well make Linux the big winner in the virtualization game. Novell's CEO Ron Hovsepian got it a bit wrong in his keynote. He argued that application availability is the key to the success of Linux, which is absolutely correct. He also argued that the Linux Standards Base (LSB) isn't enough to enable software vendors to write applications across various Linux distributions, which is also somewhat accurate.

But he strayed when he said he wanted to create some magical new effort or group for which he offered no concrete details or plans that would do what the LSB does not. That is, make a standard Linux such that an application vendor can easily develop for all Linux distributions. The answer to Hovsepian's dilemma is simple. Virtualization is the key to wide application availability on Linux. It is also the key to the widespread use of Linux. As virtualization becomes the dominant compute paradigm for IT, the question no longer is which operating system has more application support. The global economic environment has changed since then, but we do not see Chile's strong economic position as being greatly affected. The recovery from the unexpected slowdown in the third quarter of last year remains broad based. And we believe growth will reach close to 6 percent in 2007 and remain around the potential rate of 5 percent next year. Let me close with a brief discussion of structural reform.

Chile is already an example for structural policies in many areas, resulting in an enviable record of growth and considerable success in reducing poverty. Planned reforms of the pension and education systems will further strengthen the foundations for long-term growth while also addressing key social concerns. Likewise, we welcome the creation of the President's Commission on Labor Market Issues and Social Equity, as we see scope for improving labor market flexibility and also reducing labor informality. Last but not least, we remain impressed by the speed with which the financial sector in Chile has developed. Past reforms have already created a vibrant market that is increasingly integrated with the rest of the world. Planned reforms, such as the liberalization of investment rules for pension funds, should further enhance the effectiveness of markets, raise returns to pensioners and savers, and provide improved access to financing for entrepreneurs, large and small. I should probably also mention that what you're now seeing in terms of the documents, the staff report and accompanying selected issues paper have been provided to the Board for the discussion of the Article IV Consultation back in July.

The outcome of that discussion was contained in the PIN, in the Public Information Notice, that has already been published on the IMF's Web site, but now we are releasing the report. And these reports are somewhat shorter than in recent years, because we have done what the Fund called a streamlined consultation, which means that we have used somewhat fewer resources than in the past because of the absence of any systemic issues in Chile and the continued excellent performance of the Chilean economy. A phone made specifically for conference calls. A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call.

The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party merely listens into the call and cannot speak. It is often referred to as an ATC (Audio Tele-Conference). Conference calls can be designed so that the calling party calls the other participants and adds them to the call. In most cases, the participants are able call into the conference call themselves, by dialing into a special telephone number that connects to a "conference bridge" (a specialized type of equipment that links telephone lines).

Usually, most companies use a specialized service provider who maintains the conference bridge, or who provides the phone numbers and PIN codes that participants dial to access the meeting or conference call. Three-way calling is available (usually at an extra charge) for most customers on their home or office phone line. To three way call, the first person one wishes to talk to is dialed. Then the Hook flash button is pressed and the other person's phone number is dialed. While it is ringing, flash is pressed again. This will put the three people together. This option allows callers to add a second outgoing call to an already connected call. The question becomes which platform is best for virtualization.

The role that Linux plays in the virtualization space is as the enabler, the plumbing, the operating system that lets applications run virtual machines on top. It is also the underlying operating system in the virtual machine appliances themselves. So sure, the fact the no crazy news emerged from LinuxWorld may not be exciting. But having vendors push the merits of virtualization on Linux does make a point, though. When it comes to Linux in the datacenter, boring is good. It's stable, mature and it works. And it's not going to surprise you. What's your opinion? Comment on "Fedora vs. Every few months, a pundit asks, "Is Linux ready for the desktop?" The implication, of course, is that it hasn't been -- at least, not until very recently. Yet those who actually use a GNU/Linux desktop know that the operating system has been ready for some years. Considering that much of the early design of desktops like KDE and GNOME were based on what was happening in Windows, that readiness is hardly surprising. In fact, development of the GNU/Linux desktop has reached the point today where it not only equals the Windows Vista desktop, but frequently surpasses it.