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ARPANET founded. The precursor to the Internet, it allows researchers to share code and information.
Ken Thompson, researcher at Bell Labs, writes the first version of Unix.
AT&T announces plans to commercialize Unix.
Richard Stallman establishes the Free Software Foundation at MIT. The GNU project to construct an operating system based on Unix but for which the source code is freely available, begins. Stallman also establishes the idea of "copyleft" and the General Public License (GPL).
Andrew Tanenbaum releases Minix, a version of Unix for the PC, Mac, Amiga, and Atari ST. Source code included.
Michael Tiemann (Red Hat Vice President, Open Source Affairs) co-founds Cygnus Solutions, the first business to provide custom engineering and support services for free software.
Linus Torvalds releases the Linux kernel.
Bob Young introduced to free software and UNIX by the system administrators of the New York City UNIX Users Group (Unigroup).
Young incorporates ACC Corporation, a catalog business that sells Linux and Unix software accessories and books and distributes a magazine called New York UNIX
Marc Ewing creates his own distribution of Linux which he names Red Hat Linux. Released in October, it becomes known as the Halloween release.
Young buys Ewing's business, merges it with ACC Corporation, and names the new company Red Hat Software.
Red Hat Linux 2.0 is released, officially unveils the new package management system called RPM.
Red Hat opens sales and administration functions to North Carolina, opens corporate headquarters in Durham.
Greylock and August Capital invest $6.25 million in Cygnus Solutions, become first VCs to invest in a free software business.
Eric Raymond delivers "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" at the Linux Kongress in Germany.
The Red Hat training model and the term "Red Hat Certified Engineer" are first developed as the benchmark for technical skills required of Red Hat Support Partners worldwide.
Red Hat Linux 4.2 released.
Red Hat announces Red Hat Linux 5.0, followed by the introduction of telephone technical support.
Netscape announces plans to make the source code for Communicator free on the Internet.
Term "Open Source" is coined in Palo Alto, CA.
Oracle, CA, and Informix announce support for Red Hat Linux.
A lawyer for Microsoft brandishes a box of Red Hat Linux in an attempt to refute Justice Department charges that the software giant has a monopoly on the operating system market.
The first formal RHCE training course, class sessions and dates, and the RHCE Exam are announced.
IDC reports that Linux installations grew by 212% from the previous year, outpacing growth rates of Unix, Windows NT, Netware, and all other server operating systems.
IBM and Red Hat announce Linux Alliance.
Dell becomes the first major computer vendor to factory-install Red Hat Linux on servers and workstations.
Red Hat Linux 6.0 released.
Red Hat expands European presence, opening offices in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Red Hat goes public, the eighth-biggest first-day gain in Wall Street history.
Red Herring names Bob Young one of the "Top 10 Entrepreneurs of 1999."
Red Hat announces expansion into Japan.
Red Hat releases Red Hat Linux 6.1.
Matthew Szulik promoted to CEO. Red Hat Named One of the Top 20 "Best Regarded" Technology Companies, Top 10 for "Vision and Leadership" in Harris Interactive survey.
Red Hat acquires Cygnus, creating the largest open source company in the world.
InfoWorld awards Red Hat with its fourth-consecutive Operating System Product of the Year award for Red Hat Linux 6.1.
IDC reports that Linux was the fastest growing server operating system in 1999, capturing 25% of the server operating system shipment market.
Red Hat Linux receives Network Magazine's "Product of the Year" and CRN's "Editor's Choice" award. Red Hat is named one of the Red Herring "Top 50 Public Companies."
Red Hat and Dell create the One Source Alliance.
Netcraft Web Server Survey finds Red Hat holds 70% of worldwide global Linux market share.
IDC names Red Hat the Linux market leader for second consecutive year with 52.4% of Linux shipments worldwide.
Red Hat Network launches and Red Hat Linux 7.0 released.
Linus Torvalds releases the highly anticipated 2.4 Linux kernel.
Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy calls Linux a "better NT than NT" and says Solaris is Sun's implementation of Linux.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer calls Linux a "cancer" and an "intellectual property destroyer."
Red Hat releases Red Hat Linux 7.1 , the first release to incorporate the 2.4 kernel. Red Hat also launches Software Manager for Red Hat Network, providing real-time bug notification, security alerts, and software updates.
Microsoft's Senior Vice President Craig Mundie announces "shared source" initiative, admits there are benefits to sharing source code with developers and customers.
Microsoft's Ballmer calls Linux the biggest threat to Microsoft.
IDC predicts that worldwide relational database revenues on Linux and other open source platforms will grow from $42 million in 2000 to $7.8 billion in 2005.
Tiemann debates Microsoft's Mundie at O'Reilly Open Source Convention in a panel discussion to argue "Shared Source vs. Open Source."
MITRE Corporation reports in a study funded by DISA that open source software is ready for use in government applications.
Red Hat Linux 7.2 is released.
Amazon.com, a major Red Hat customer, reports in a filing to the SEC that it cut technology expenses about 25%, from $71 million to $54 million, and attributes this primarily to the move to a Linux-based technology platform.
Red Hat proposes to provide free software to every school district in the United States if Microsoft pays for the computing hardware in an alternative to Microsoft's class action lawsuit settlement plan.
Matthew Szulik tells Senate Judiciary Committee at Microsoft hearing "Monopolist has seriously warped the technology industry."
Red Hat ranked 140 in Deloitte & Touche "Technology Fast 500." Red Hat Linux earns editor's choice honors in PC Magazine, CNET, and Linux Magazine. Red Hat Linux selected as the reader's choice for top distribution in Network World and Linux Journal.
IDC reports a 45-80% lower Total Cost of Ownership for Linux on Intel architecture over RISC/Unix environments.
RHCE program rated #1 IT certification program for Overall Quality in Fairfield Research survey.
Sun's McNealy dons penguin suit for speech at LinuxWorld.
Red Hat moves its headquarters to the Centennial Campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Red Hat introduces the first enterprise-class Linux operating system: Red Hat Linux Advanced Server. Dell, IBM, HP, Oracle, and VERITAS announce their support of the platform.
Dreamworks, a major Red Hat customer, reveals that hit film "Shrek" was rendered on Red Hat Linux servers. Also releases "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"; first animated film to be created entirely on Linux workstations and rendered on Linux servers.
Credit Suisse First Boston, a major Red Hat customer, reports a 20x increase in overall performance for their new Red Hat Linux-powered trading architecture.
Red Hat opens a major engineering and R&D facility in Westford, Mass.
Red Hat announces the Red Hat Alliance. Committed partners include Alias|Wavefront, BMC, Borland, Checkpoint, Computer Associates, Dell, HP, IBM, Legato Systems, Novell, Oracle, Rogue Wave, Softimage, Synopsys, TIBCO, and VERITAS.
Red Hat officially announces its entry into the enterprise with the "Enterprise-Ready Linux" event with partners Oracle and Dell.
Red Hat stock price, closing at $5.50 per share, eclipses Sun Microsystems ($5.12 per share) for first time.
Red Hat Linux 8.0 released, introducing new Bluecurve desktop.
IBM and Red Hat announce global multi-year alliance to deliver enterprise Linux solutions.
Microsoft's Ballmer says that Microsoft does not plan to offer software for Linux.
Red Hat Q3 financial report shows positive cash flow (GAAP) from operations for second consecutive quarter and positive revenue growth for third consecutive quarter.
META Group predicts that Linux will run on 45% of new Intel based servers by 2006 or 2007, up from 15%. Also predicts that Microsoft will move some of its proprietary application enablers to Linux by 2004.
Red Hat Network registers its one millionth system.
Morgan Stanley, a major Red Hat customer, speaks at LinuxWorld about how a flexible architecture based on Red Hat Linux has allowed them to increase performance and reliability while decreasing costs. Red Hat reports that 8 of the top 10 global investment banks are customers of Red Hat.
Goldman Sachs reports that "Linux will have the greatest effect in the Datacenter, where mission critical functions (database, ERP, CRM, etc) are run on higher-end servers and the majority of enterprise IT dollars are spent."
Red Hat launches Red Hat Academy to bring RHCE program to schools and colleges worldwide.
Red Hat achieves US Department of Defense COE certification.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux family of operating system products launched, including server and workstation operating systems.
Sun's McNealy says his company can embrace Linux while still selling Solaris.
HP and Red Hat announce expanded global agreement to deliver enterprise Linux solutions.
Goldman Sachs IT Spending Survey reports that Red Hat ranks first among software companies gaining share of IT dollars.
10th anniversary of the incorporation of ACC Corporation, the company that eventually became Red Hat.
Red Hat posts profits for first time, for 2Q03 numbers.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 is released.
Oracle and HP Set World Record TPC-C Benchmark Result; First to Top One Million Transactions Per Minute With Clustered Linux Servers.
Red Hat announces an agreement to acquire storage specialist Sistina Software for about $31 million in stock.
Red Hat raises $600 million through a bond offering, bringing its cash reserves to about $1 billion.
Red Hat Desktop 3 is released, focused as Red Hat's first dedicated desktop product.
Red Hat Global File System (GFS) is released as a solution for files to be stored in a single file system shared by numerous servers.
The Red Hat Application Server, a server that works with other Java Enterprise Edition 2.0 (J2EE) application servers from IBM, BEA, and Oracle, is released.
Red Hat acquires AOL's Netscape server software for around $25 million in cash.
The Yankee Group reports that Chicago Mercantile Exchange doubled the number of daily trades performed and cut hardware costs by 50% after migrating from Sun Solaris Systems to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Red Hat opens its first office in China, in the capital city of Beijing.
Red Hat is ranked first in value in Ziff Davis' CIO Insight Vendor Value Study surveying 1,050 U.S.-based IT executives.
Red Hat teams up with IBM to launch a joint Linux ISV Certification Support System in Europe, providing support for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) who wish to certify applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on IBM hardware and middleware.
Red Hat establishes its Government business unit to meet increasing demand for Red Hat products and services for global governments.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4 is released.
Red Hat reports its fiscal fourth quarter results, boasting $57.5 million in total revenue for the quarter, a year-over-year increase of 56%.
Italy's BPU Banka migrates 8,000 workstation clients from Solaris to Red Hat Desktop to achieve 50% cost reduction.
Red Hat heads down to the Big Easy for the first annual Red Hat Summit in New Orleans. At the Summit, Red Hat announces the release of its Directory Server, based on technology assets acquired by the Netscape Security Solutions division of America Online in September of 2004.
Red Hat opens its second office in China, based in Shanghai.
Matthew Szulik receives the Morgan Stanley Leadership Award for Global Commerce.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 wins Operating System and Server Product of the Year at the 2005 Techworld Network Awards in London.
Red Hat, along with Sun Microsystems and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), helps to defeat a European software patent directive that, if upheld by Parliament, would have permitted the patenting of software.
The SANS Institute reports that Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscribers are less susceptible to network security holes than users of other platforms.
Red Hat and HP debut the industry-first open source blade bundle, in which Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Red Hat Network will be offered with HP BladeSystem.
Red Hat releases the Red Hat Certificate System as a part of its 'Security in a Networked World' initiative.
Red Hat reports a 42% year-over-year growth rate with $65.7 million in revenue for its fiscal Second Quarter results. This compares to growth rates of -4.9% for Novell and 9.4% for Microsoft.
Red Hat releases its first performance-based security certification, the Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS), as its latest milestone in the 'Security in a Networked World' initiative.
Red Hat supports the University of North Carolina in hosting the UNC Symposium for Intellectual Property, Creativity, and the Innovation Process.
Red Hat is rated number one in value for the second-straight year in Ziff Davis' CIO Insight Vendor Value Study of U.S.-based IT executives.
Red Hat Certified Engineer scores the top spot on the CertCities.com list of 10 Hottest Certifications for 2006 and is also named Best Linux/UNIX Certification in the CertCities.com Annual Readers' Choice Awards.
Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik is named one of the 50 most powerful people in networking by Network World.
Red Hat teams up with the MIT Media Lab's One Laptop per Child initiative, officially announcing plans to drive the development of the operating system that will be included in inexpensive machines for developing nations and emerging markets.
Red Hat formally announces its 'Integrated Virtualization' strategy to simplify virtualization deployment for customers.
Red Hat reports its fiscal fourth quarter results, boasting $78.7 million in total revenue for the quarter, a year-over-year increase of 37%.
Red Hat teams up with Intel to launch the Red Hat-Intel Solution Acceleration Program, the first of its kind to help customers plan for, accelerate, and optimize their deployments of Linux solutions.
Red Hat signs a definitive agreement to acquire JBoss.
Red Hat continues global expansion with Red Hat Argentina and Red Hat Brazil
Red Hat completes acquisition of Jboss.