Until recently my main programming skills were VisualBasic, HTML, a bit of JavaScript & shed load of applets using VisualBasic for Applications. Most of the applications I have developed were primarily for the M$ Windows platform. However, due to the unease of many of my clients regarding Microsoft's draconian licensing arrangements, I'm starting to get heavily into Linux and the rich diversity of software and ideas that now emanate from the 'Open Source' community. Consequently, main avenue of enquiry today is PHP & mySQL. The new GarfNet sites are all Linux | Apache | PHP | mySQL based.

I think that open source will become very important over the next few years & Tux, the Linux penguin will be a familiar sight on computer desktops all around the planet. Put it another way, I won't be buying Micro$oft shares anytime soon!

• To learn more about open source software, please visit DEOSS, Development & Education in Open Source Systems, http://www.deoss.org