“One of the software companies that has seemed to have risen
from the dead this year is the Canadian firm Corel. After years of
seeing its profits pummeled at the hands of competitors like
Microsoft…and Adobe…Corel has righted its core business and put
a string of profitable quarters together. While an improving profit
picture looks nice, the real reason for Corel’s recent skyward
ascent can be summarized in five little letters: L – I – N – U –
X.”
“For the uninitiated, Linux is a computer operating system that
has an open architecture, allowing programmers around the globe to
develop and distribute improvements to the software freely over the
Internet. For a variety of reasons, many think that Linux is the
“next big thing” in operating systems and could pose the most
serious threat to the stranglehold Microsoft has on the operating
system market. Just about any company having anything remotely to
do with Linux has been hot as a pistol on Wall Street, and Corel is
no exception. Just pull up a quote on Red Hat…or VA Linux
Systems…to see the dramatic optimism surrounding Linux.”
“Corel is set to benefit by the increased Linux rollout in
two different ways. First, the company recently started
shipping its own version of the Linux operating system, and the
product has had a warm reception. Second, some of the company’s
legacy products, namely WordPerfect, are compatible with Linux and
may see an increase in market share if Linux as continues to expand
its presence.”