LinuxToday has an article about recent layoffs at VA Linux and what to expect in the future by noted author and open source advocate Eric Raymond of Cathedral and the Bazaar fame. Raymond writes ‘…There is actually one good thing for us about economic slumps. During them, IT departments and software users in general feel pressure to cut costs. That makes low-cost and free software more attractive. Over the next few months you can expect to see a lot of submarine Linux deployments suddenly surfacing as managers realize that they’ll look *good* on their quarterlies if they cut their licensing and service costs, and as the techies working for them get that message and fess up to how many NT boxes they’ve been replacing by stealth. So the downturn isn’t all bad news for us, by any means. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing, the best work we can. And when the economy picks up again, we will have gained by it…’