Fully-fledged Company rather than just a Linux Company:
Unlike we all think, Red Hat is not just an enterprise Linux distribution or we can say just an operating system. It also provides a wide range of additional products and services such as database middleware, application server middleware, web middleware, and so on. In addition to middleware, Red Hat also offers various cloud computing services among which Open Shift technology is a popular one, which delivers a complete application platform for both traditional and cloud-native applications, allowing them to run anywhere. Along with cloud services, Red Hat also provides storage solutions as well as consultancy and support solutions, even though its enterprise Linux distribution is the product for which it is best known. Rather than just being a Linux distribution, Red Hat Enterprise is a significant product-based company mostly providing cloud, storage, and middleware solutions.
Operates on Open-Source Business Model:
The business strategy of Red Hat Enterprise is centered on open-source software, which implies that it makes its product’s source code available to the public for use, modification, and distribution. Software with an open-source business model mostly relies on support and service for revenue. Customers that utilize open-source software frequently want assistance installing, customizing it for their unique requirements, and troubleshooting any issues. As a result, many businesses charge for the use of their services and customer assistance. The seeking of donations can be another significant additional source of income production. In many cases, open-source business models are more likely than proprietary ones to significantly influence and generate income for companies.
Benefactor to Open-Source Projects:
Red Hat is a major contributor to many open-source projects such as the Linux kernel, the Gnome Desktop Environment, and the OpenJDK (Java Development Kit). Linux kernel is the base of the Linux OS. The Linux kernel interacts with all Linux servers and applications and handles process management, memory management, hardware device drivers, filesystem drivers, network management, and various other bits and pieces. Gnome stands for GNU Object Model Environment which is one of the most popular free and open-source desktop environments used in some of the major Linux operating systems like Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. OpenJDK which stands for Open Java Development Kit is a free, open-source version of the Java Development Kit for the Java Platform.
Presence of Large and Growing Ecosystem:
The development and uptake of Red Hat are assisted by the company’s expanding ecosystem of partners, developers, and users. It has a large and growing ecosystem of stakeholders, tech persons, and customers, which helps to drive the progress and adoption of its products and services. Red Hat has grown much broader and more dynamic over the past years and is constantly in the race toward improvement.
Industry Leader in Cloud Computing:
With a variety of cloud-based products and services, including the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) providing OpenShift and the open-source infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providing OpenStack, Red Hat is a market leader in the field of cloud computing. Red Hat Cloud Services consists of hosted and managed platforms, applications, and data services in order to simplify the hybrid cloud experience and lower operational costs and complexity while delivering cloud-native applications.
Publicly Traded Company:
Red Hat is a publicly traded company, and its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the stock-ticker symbol RHT. This company went public on August 11, 1999.
It’s important to note that IBM bought Red Hat in 2019 and is now the company’s owner. Red Hat has been able to enhance its open-source portfolio and establish a stronger foothold in the enterprise market due to the acquisition
Thank you Pratyoos Panta.