Say it ain't so! What did the open source operating system do to deserve such ignominy?According to the most recent results of a quarterly research survey of more than 60 CIOs by investment firm UBS, as reported by my colleague Richard Martin, a significant number of respondents say they won't be using Linux this year, significantly more than expressed those same sentiments last year.

"We believe it should be expected that Linux operating system growth will slow from the significant growth rates of the past few years," according to UBS analyst Heather Bellini, who headed the study

According to UBS, 90% of the CIOs surveyed who don't already use Linux (47% of the total CIO group, according to Barrons) say they won't implement it this year. That's up from January, when 87% of the non-Linux-using CIOs snubbed the open source OS, and up significantly from last year when 60% said they wouldn't be caught dead in the same room with Linux.

So much for Linux making new friends, I guess. What's the hang-up? Are these Linux laggards waiting for Vista Longhorn? Or conversely, are they intimidated by Micrsosoft's patent-saber rattling around Linux?

If more than half of the CIOs say they've already implemented Linux, that means it has plenty of loyal friends. And that loyalty is likely to increase: "The penetration level of Linux among existing customers -- i.e., the portion of businesses' overall server resources represented by Linux -- remains low at around 8%, according to the CIOs surveyed, leading the UBS analysts to assert that 'we still see room for a considerable uptick in penetration levels.' "

But new friends are as important as old ones, as your Mom probably told you. What's Linux got to do to make new friends?