say what you want about the blinders, head in the sand, bla bla bla, but i think that this cbs marketwatch article says it all:
<an excerpt>
<<<<Three years ago, the Linux operating system was seen as one of the potentially great disruptive technologies. With an open-source code that anyone could have access to and manipulate, Linux was treated in some circles as an operating system that would overthrow the dominance of Microsoft's Windows in the enterprise segment and on the desktop.
Companies specializing in Linux such as Red Hat (RHAT: news, chart, profile) and VA Linux went public and soared to outlandish heights. On the day of its IPO Dec. 9, 1999, VA Linux gained nearly 700 percent, climbing up to $320 in intraday trading. And almost any private company involved in Linux could write its own ticket, as venture capitalists were all-to-willing to finance Linux start-ups.
However, the revolution never really took off like expected, and the gold rush ended. Microsoft is still entrenched as the de facto operating system standard. Red Hat closed Friday at $4.94. In 2001, VA Linux became VA Software (LNUX: news, chart, profile) and dumped its software engineering business after watching its stock plummet over two years. On Friday, VA Software's shares closed at 75 cents.
Linux software sales have fallen, too. According to research firm IDC, worldwide Linux software sales in 2001 amounted to $80 million, a 5 percent drop from 2000. By contrast IDC estimates that Microsoft increased its Windows server shipments in 2001 by 17 percent over 2000.>>> |
