From Linux to Cloud, why Red Hat matters for every enterprise

In 1994, if you wanted to make money from Linux, you were selling Linux CDs for $39.95. By 2016, Red Hat became the first $2 billion Linux company. But, in the same year, Red Hat was shifting its long-term focus from Linux to the cloud. Here's how Red Hat got from mail-order CDs to the top Linux company and a major cloud player. Marc Ewing was a happy hacker spinning his own distribution of Linux on CDs from his Raleigh, N.C., home. He called it Red Hat after his grandfather's red Cornell University lacrosse cap, which he wore as a tech assistant at Carnegie Mellon University.