“Red Hat has harnessed Linux’s momentum. Last week, Compaq
Computer Corp., IBM Corp., Novell Inc. and Oracle Corp. each took
minority equity stakes in the private company, based in Research
Triangle Park, N.C. That follows news last fall of Intel Corp.’s,
Netscape Communications Corp.’s and two venture capital firms’
investing in the company. Red Hat also signed a deal with Computer
Associates International Inc. that will release 1 million copies of
its Linux operating system into the market.”
“And standardization on one Linux might avoid the problems that
retarded Unix’ market penetration. The Linux Standard Base, an
organization working toward a standard, is concerned the
independent software vendors will avoid creating much-needed
programs for Linux if they’re confronted with different
versions.”