Rumour Speculation is mounting that Hewlett-Packard may cede its Unix OS, HP/UX, in favour of Linux. Reports from insiders close to HP's plans are indicating that the firm is near to making a decision whether to continue with HP/UX or not. Well stranger things have happened at sea. However, last week HP presented details of how it will port HP/UX to the Merced platform, indicating that it has already ploughed money into that particular project. We are attempting to obtain either a denial or a confirmation of these rumours from HP itself. Interestingly, there were no presentations from Compaq at IDF about any plans it might have to port Tru64 (D/UX) to Merced, indicating that its decision to drop Alpha NT may have been a very hasty decision. ®