“The stunning success of Red Hat Inc. has generated much
attention for the once obscure Linux operating system. However,
some wonder if the color of money will spawn the kind of greed that
could end up spoiling the entire party.”
“Since the Durham, North Carolina software vendor brought its
shares to market, Red Hat has raised $5 billion (US$) — an amazing
feat when you consider that the recent IPO market has been
extremely flat. However, given the cult that has formed around
Linux, no one should be too surprised.”
“Based on the Unix operating system, Linux was developed in 1991
by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish graduate student. The free system was
made available on the Internet, and has since gained ground on
Microsoft every year. According to International Data Corp., Linux
shipments will grow 25 percent from 1999 through 2003 — more than
twice the 10 to 12 percent growth of other workstation and server
systems. “