ZDNet: Red Hat's market-leading Linux

"Compared to the rest of the Linux distributors, Red Hat is in good shape. But like every one else in the Linux and technology sector, Red Hat has experienced significant stock price slides. In the beginning of the Linux investment boom, enthusiasm made stock prices soar. At the time of this writing, however, prices were below $4, less than the initial public offering price of $7, and way below its high. Also, in December 2000, Red Hat laid off 20 people. According to the company, the layoff was not due to the stock prices, but because of redundancies created by the company making nine acquisitions in 2000. But again, Red Hat is doing better than its competitors- Caldera, Suse, Turbolinux, and VA Linux Systems each laid off more people than Red Hat in early 2001. Small Market on Desktop PCs

In August 2001, Dell Computer chose to stop pre-installing Red Hat Linux on desktop and notebook models because of low demand and a slow PC market. However, Dell is continuing to pre-install Red Hat on its workstation and server models. Dell is following the market for Linux in general--the operating system is simply much more successful in the server market. Linux has not been able to compete on the desktop because of the lack of great desktop productivity applications. In addition to workstations and servers, Red Hat is aggressively going after up-and-coming markets that include embedded, mobile, and wireless.

Red Hat is currently the most influential Linux distributor. Red Hat Linux is a comprehensive and sound implementation, with a variety of configuration, development, installation, networking, usability, and security features. Red Hat Linux is designed for users on all levels--from novice to advanced. Especially appealing are the special versions for database, e-commerce, Web servers, and high-availability servers. Red Hat's service and support facilities include the Network service, providing systems support and management for Red Hat Linux networks. Red Hat's prominence in the Linux market is deserved; struggling but holding its own against the current world economic downturn, Red Hat continues to improve its products, service, and training."

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