“With the coming to the market of a number of Linux
companies – VA Linux Systems debuts this week – day traders are
beginning to realise that Linux IPOs may turn out to be hotter and
possibly more reliable than Internet ones. This is good in
that venture capitalists and investment bankers could do more for
Linux development than all the enthusiasts so far. Even hearts and
mind campaigns can gain from the financial suits bringing some
recognition to Linux and encouraging the stuffier enterprises to
consider adopting Linux. Of course the potential changes in the
development model may not necessarily be welcome to the
community….”
“VA Linux Systems, describing itself as a provider of
Linux-based solutions, filed for its IPO in October and will be
traded this week, probably on Wednesday or Thursday with the ticker
LNUX, which in itself could prove to be an asset. Some 4.4 million
shares are being offered and a significant premium is likely over
the initial $11 to $13. The cash raised is to be used for general
corporate purposes. The company recently announced it was
partnering with Loki Entertainment Software to distribute the
Debian GNU/Linux retail package. In November, it formed a
partnership with O’Reilly and SGI to distribute Debian.”