Red Hat
The words Red Hat have two different meanings, one to do with the computer industry, the other to do with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Red Hat organization began in 1993 and has become the largest and most recognized company dedicated to Open source software. The company now has more than 700 employees and 22 locations worldwide. Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Research Triangle Park, Durham, North Carolina in the United States of America.
Red Hat is a market leader in the development, deployment, and management of Linux and open source solutions for Internet infrastructure - ranging from embedded devices to secure web servers.
Red Hat was founded by entrepreneur Marc Ewing, and in 1995 merged with canadian Bob Youngs company ACC Corporation. Young then took the role as CEO of the company.
Open source lies at the foundation of their business model. It represents a fundamental shift in how software is created. The code that makes up the software is available to anyone. Developers who use the software may freely improve the software. Even competitors like Microsoft admit that the result is rapid innovation (compare the Halloween documents).
Red Hat solutions combine Red Hat Linux, developer and Embedded Technologies, training, management services and technical support. Red Hat optionally delivers this open source innovation to their customers via an Internet platform called Red Hat Network.
On August 11, 1999, the company completed its Initial Public Offering of six million shares of common stock at a price of $14/share on the US NASDAQ. Its stock ticker is RHAT. Its site may be found at http://www.redhat.com. On November 15, 1999, Red Hat announced its merger with Cygnus Solutions, a leading open source vendor. Consequently, Red Hat now develops Cygwin. For home use, Red Hat released Red Hat Linux 9, a version upgrade for Red Hat Linux 8 . The bulk of Red Hat`s revenue comes from corporations paying yearly support subscriptions for a stable version called Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The words red hat when used within the Roman Catholic Church refer to the appointment of a Cardinal, a senior Prince of the Church who is a member of the electoral college that chooses the Pope. A person on being appointed to the cardinalate is said to have received the red hat or cardinal's biretta. Prior to Vatican II, cardinals received a broad-brimmed, tasseled hat as a symbol of their office - the galero. Today, Cardinals no longer receive the galero, which they would wear only once while cardinal and which would be hung up in their former cathedral on their death and left to disintegrate through decay and old age, symbolising the passing of manmade glories and power. Today, the Cardinals receive a red "biretta" - or 4-pointed hat in an installation ceremony called a consistory. Receiving the red hat is an expression associated with the appointment of someone as cardinal.
