“Supplying open-source tools to the market will require new business models. But by delivering unique benefits to the market, those companies that develop the business models will be very successful competing with companies that attempt to retain control over their customers.”  - Bob Young, Chairman and CEO, Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat software is fully based on open-source model, anyone can access, modify, or redistribute it via open-source licenses (GPL). But they have flagship products like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (enterprise OS) which is only available through paid subscriptions. They also offer  training, consultation, cloud services, and middleware solutions enabling them to  monetize. 

Intel was one of the early-stage seed investors in Red Hat In 1998 . 20 years later, they were acquired for $34B by IBM and operates as an independent subsidiary. 

IBM was ones the largest business in the world 20 years ago. Today it only has a single digit market share and Red Hat has been it’s saving grace to  better bridge enterprise and cloud solutions. 

Bob Young’s quote above was from his foreword taken the book ‘Cathedral and Bazaar’ by Eric Raymond - this book is on the open-source software ethos based on Linux. 

Bob went on to say that two things are needed for open-source software to change the world: 
1 - It has to be widely used 
2 - the benefits to the users needs to be communicated well and understood.

The book itself is a good read - slightly harder if you are not from a software background - some parts made me wonder what would happen if devs wrote soap opera scripts - but in general, its a great reflection of what happens when people come together with the intention to build, and build up and build forward and build together.