Thanks to John Jensen for
this link.
[This story is a little old but still of value.]
“In his 23-year business career, Bob Young has made only two big
mistakes. The first was the time he allowed his Toronto-based
computer rental business to be swallowed up by a larger company,
only to discover that he hated working for someone else. The second
was his reaction in 1992 when several of his customers introduced
him to the Linux operating system… ” I figured there wasn’t a
chance in 100 this thing would take off.”
“Many CEOs in Young’s position would now be rushing to cash in
by selling shares to the public, but that is not one of his
priorities. Belying the get-rich-quick mentality that pervades the
high-tech sector, Young lives with his wife, Nancy, and three
daughters in a “stereotypical three-bedroom house in the ‘burbs’ ”
of Raleigh. Apart from feeling guilty about the time he spends away
from the family on business trips, his main concern is to make sure
Red Hat is still around five or 10 years from now, by which point
he believes Linux will be as ubiquitous as Microsoft Windows is
today. Then, perhaps, Young really will be rich, thanks to the
popularity of free software.”