The Case of the Missing Red Hat

Gumshoed gato grasps for scarlett-hued clues.

Dont be cruel," cried the Kitty. But Spencers editors once again rejected his pleas that the annual Elvis Week in Memphis in remembrance of Elvis Presleys passing (August 2006 marks the 29th year since the King officially left the building) was equivalent to a religious holiday. Instead, the Furball was summarily dispatched to San Francisco to cover LinuxWorld.

After checking into his own kind of heartbreak hotel, His Hirsuteness was aghast, as were fellow attendees, to find that Red Hat, which literally made its name by the sweat of the open-source communitys brow, would not be in the building either. Instead of renting booth space at the show, several crimson-lidded executives holed up in a suite at the brand-new St. Regis Hotel, where they hosted an evening cocktail party for select members of the press and partners. The open-source community was stunned by the decision, as were Red Hats smaller partners, which have traditionally piggybacked on the companys display to showcase their products.

The Puss pondered the rumors circulating all week that Oracle would announce at the show its own Linux distribution based on Red Hat Linux-and whether they could be the reason the vermilion-visored vermin didnt purchase floor space. When no such announcement from Oracle surfaced, Spence cornered Brian Stevens, Red Hats CTO, about the carmine-cappers no-show. "Theres no big agenda here, thats whats interesting about it. I dont think were the first-as IBM hasnt been at LinuxWorld for what, a year now or so," said Stevens. The Kitty later asked an IBM spokesperson about Stevens little factoid, and she claimed that while Big Blues booth was indeed smaller, IBM has always maintained a presence at all LinuxWorld expos and has remained a major show sponsor." When the Katt asked the ruby-bonneted bigwig if he thought Oracle was developing its own Linux distribution based on Red Hats, he said he had no knowledge of Oracle developing such a product, but added that didnt mean that it wasnt. The Furry One also asked if rumors that Red Hat being acquired, possibly by Oracle, were true. The cardinal-crowned CTO responded that the way the company is "running, growing and expanding its business is evidence that its not."

His head woozy from rouge-chapeau spin, the Kitty made his way to the Thirsty Bear, where he downed a few rounds with a CA watcher from back East. The merry Manhattoe said that, according to CAs latest SEC filing, it appears that expenses are still giving the companys bottom line trouble. "Do you think CAs recent construction of a helicopter pad to shuttle its execs between Islandia and Manhattan could be considered an extravagance?" cackled the Kitty. "CAs recent SEC filing stated the company was giving one new high-level exec at least $5,000 a month to commute from the city to Islandia," said the pal. "Im guessing hes not taking the train!" laughed the Lynx.

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