Under the Radar: How Red Hat Changed the Software Business--and Took Microsoft by Surprise

Can a free computer operating system end Microsoft's monopoly and shape the direction of the software industry for the next 10 to 15 years? It may sound strange, but it is definitely possible, according to Robert Young, chief executive of Red Hat, Inc. In Under the Radar, Young and Wendy Goldman Rohm chronicle the dramatic rise of the open-source movement and the emergence of Linux, an operating system that can be downloaded, modified, and redistributed--all for free.

Young, whose company packages and sells Linux software and services, and Goldman Rohm, a technology journalist and author of The Microsoft File, provide a unique glimpse at a bevy of colorful computer cowboys who helped shape Linux: Richard Stallman, the "mad prophet" of the open-source movement; Linus Torvalds, the self-effacing Linux creator ("I am your god") swamped with 200 e-mails a day suggesting code revisions to his creation; and Eric Raymond, a Linux programmer and author of The New Hacker's Dictionary. The book includes rollicking anecdotes about how Young persuaded giants such as Intel and Dell Computer to invest in Red Hat and the "bizarre notion" that his company could topple Microsoft, or at least provide a strong alternative. He writes, "If you move into an industry playing by existing rules, you'll just become another player. You won't revolutionize that industry unless you change the paradigm." Well-written and entertaining, Under the Radar is for anyone who has come under the spell of the open-source movement, as well as those who wonder where the software industry might be headed. --Dan Ring