“VA Linux and the others make and distribute software and
computers based on Linux, an operating system that investors last
year saw as an alternative to Microsoft’s Windows. The system’s
popularity with web companies drove up Linux-related stocks and
made VA Linux’s December 9 IPO the best performer in a decade.”
“Now, the optimism has cooled as Linux companies lose money and
Microsoft holds onto market share, even as the US Government
considers a two-way split of the world’s largest software
maker.”
“Linux has lost its allure with investors,” said Mr Walter
Winnitzki, an analyst at Chase H&Q. “It needs to regain that
allure with good solid earnings.“