“Open source became a brand and a revolution this year-and
Linux was its poster child. For companies in need of inexpensive
and highly customizable software to build an online presence, the
operating system provided the comfort of full source code with a
price tag that was easy to swallow. Migration to Linux in the
back office was further justified with support from heavyweight IT
vendors such as Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, SAP,
and SGI….”
“Investors were willing to give Linux time to mature. Convinced
that Linux might some day challenge Microsoft in the back office,
they kicked Red Hat Inc.’s stock up from an initial offering price
of $14 in August to a high of $284 in December, at one point
turning the commercial Linux market share leader into a $19.5
billion company, though Red Hat had little but red ink to
show.”