Red Hat, Inc. (RHT)

Not only is open source the new IT model for both businesses and individuals, cloud computing is the future-coming-to-pass and Red Hat is positioned to benefit.

They are trading near their 52-week high, but I think the shift in IT spending/investment will favor companies like Red Hat in the next few years.

MS servers at the mid to enterprise levels are nothing more than money maintenance cash inflows to MS.

Red Hat offers stability / low maintenance / greater acceptance and value.

If you want to pay Bill Gates for more problems then MS servers are the way to go.

Open source software is the future.

Linux has come a long way. I'm using it now.

Recently added to the S&P this stock will get additional institutional investor attention and by extension will improve their consistently growing market share -- a strong reliable, steady, and dependable company is exactly what the customers are looking for here. While most companies might start performing like the index by being added to it, I think RHT has a solid chance of building market share which drives their entire business model.

made lots of money when in college linux what what now using firefox instead of msft less crashes wow more reliable try linux

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If I could put a not as strong thumb up on this one, I would. I like the company and have worked in Red Hat shops before. The US government right now is eating up Red Hat products, and paying a lot of money in the process. Red Hat employees are great, and they really do add value to their service. Pretty cool to have a problem and be able to talk to the developer of a portion of the OS for help. The company has very little debt.

Now, what I don't like is that I think the stock is a bit overvalued. I feel that this has to do with the thought that a lot of people feel that this company is going to be bought. There is a tremendous amount of consolidation in the computer industry right now and that will just continue. My fear is that if someone doesn't step up soon, then these people looking for a buy out are going to start jumping ship, and I don't like that.

Decisions, decision.

This company is going to get bought

Growing.

Open Source will rule the future of computing.

Ended 2008 strong, has tons of cash and little debt, and will benefit from the ever persistent threat of Confiker and its ilk wrecking havoc on Microsoft products perpetually targeted by hackers.

Will very likely be swallowed by a bigger tech giant as the consolidation games gets into high gear...

Could be bought out soon.

Red Hat is a leader in open source software with excellent operating system and application server stack. As companies look to save money in the current downturn open source software is increasingly attractive. Red Hat is one of the best-known players.

Corporate IT is trying to save a buck... RHT's offering is more compatible with Green IT than MSFT. TCO is lower with a RHT solution than a MSFT.

As more companies realize this, RHT will profit well, as they are the most mature offering in the Linux arena.

An open-source software (Linux, in this case) experiment of mine. I love the stuff and think there is a strong business case, although one that requires some technical knowledge. Red Hat is a leader in this area, and cost-conscious operators could leverage this low-cost adaptable option.

Excellent way of cutting cost in a downed economy.

From the perspective of a software industry insider, I believe this company is at the forefront of a movement toward open source and away from proprietary vendors. Red Hat is well-positioned to benefit, both in the short and long term and appears to have figured out a successful business model for marketing an open source solution. In addition, this economic downturn may actually accelerate profits for Red Hat.