-Caveat Lector- >From Nando / AP Even with open source, Red Hat is red hot. Copyright © 1998 Nando Media Copyright © 1998 Associated Press DURHAM (December 29, 1998 12:22 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - It's not exactly time to tell Windows to step aside, but Durham's Red Hat - and the Linux operating system it distributes - are on a roll. The buzz started building in September when Silicon Valley darlings Netscape Communications and Intel invested in Red Hat. Since then, Red Hat has received the kind of national hype that has long been the dream of technology companies based in the Triangle. The attention gave the previously obscure Linux operating system - the basic software that manages all the other programs and files in a computer - new legitimacy. Some in the industry even tout it as a potential threat to Microsoft's Windows. Microsoft attorneys recently cited Red Hat's product as proof the Redmond, Wash., giant is not a monopoly. After ducking the spotlight for most of its three years of existence, Red Hat was suddenly the rage. Last month, when some of its executives attended Comdex, the industry's biggest trade show, they were mobbed by reporters and industry leaders looking to strike deals. The publicity has generated tremendous momentum and opportunity for its 85 employees. But while the ride has been thrilling, now comes the hard part: fulfilling the promise. "When you get as much publicity as we get, you end up setting a lot of expectations," said Bob Young, Red Hat's chief executive officer. "What worries me is that we've got a lot of work to do to meet those expectations." Red Hat, located in Research Commons near Research Triangle Park, is largely in the business of providing an alternative to Microsoft for programmers and computer geeks. The alternative is Linux, which it distributes. Linux was developed in the early 1990s by a Finnish student named Linus Torvalds. He wanted to create an operating system for PCs that worked like the high-powered operating system Unix, the main system used on the big computers that run most of the Internet. But rather than start a company and market the system, Torvalds did something that captured the imagination of programmers around the world. Torvalds posted the Linux source code - the blueprints for the software - on the Internet. Anyone can suggest improvements or download Linux and use it for free. Microsoft closely guards the Windows source code and charges about $90 for its operating system. "We don't own Linux," said Jon "Mad Dog" Hall, executive director of Linux International, a trade association which promotes Linux. "It's owned by the community of programmers who have contributed to it over the years." Red Hat makes its money by testing versions of Linux, adding its own tools, manuals and technical support and then selling the whole thing in a shrink-wrapped box for $50 and up - still less than Windows 98. Last month, someone posted a memo on the Internet written by two Microsoft engineers that called Linux a challenge to company revenue. And Nov. 18, in a Washington, D.C., courtroom where Microsoft is on trial for anti-trust violations, a company attorney held up a package of Red Hat software and cited it as proof that Microsoft had a tenuous grasp on the operating system market. While it has been popular among hackers and back-room techies, some observers wondered whether large companies would ever seriously accept a product not backed by a company like Microsoft. That's where Red Hat comes in. In 1994, a local IBM employee named Marc Ewing discovered the wonders of Linux and started his own company to market Linux products. Ewing later merged with a company started by Young to create Red Hat. The company purposefully maintained a low profile. "Our goal is to build a successful software company for the next 20 years," Young said. But all the attention has forced Red Hat to revisit its growth plans. It leased new, bigger offices and has grown from 50 to 85 employees in just a few months. And Young expects sales - projected to be $10 million in 1998 - and employment to double annually in the coming years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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