Novell's chief technology and strategy officer for Linux thinks that the popularity of netbooks could prove an opportunity for the Linux operating system. This is because low-cost netbooks will invariably run Linux due to its lower storage footprint. Vendors selecting it will also avoid the higher licensing cost of the Windows operating system. Of course, Linux is also more easily tailored to work with unusual form factors and limited specifications, as pointed out by Ryan Paul over at Ars Technica. Unfortunately, more polishing probably needs to be done; the return rates disclosed by hardware manufacturer MSI reveals that the company's Linux-based netbooks are a staggering four times that of those with Windows installed. You can read more about the analysis here.

To read more on about Linux on netbooks:
- check out this article from PC World