The company that sold Linux to businesses later sued IBM, claiming Linux used its code. Caldera Systems, based in Orem, Utah, sold a polished Linux distribution aimed at businesses. Linux was the darling of the technology world in 1999. Red Hat and VA Linux had both soared on their first days of trading, and investors wanted more. Caldera went public in March 2000, within days of the Nasdaq peak, and its shares jumped on the first day.

Novell Veterans, Corporate Linux

Caldera bet that businesses would pay for a supported, easy-to-install version of Linux, just as they paid for other operating systems. Linux itself was free to download, so Caldera's business rested on what came with it. It offered desktop and server versions, plus training and services. Its founders had worked at Novell before starting the company, and they aimed it squarely at corporate networks.

From Linux to Lawsuits

Caldera priced its IPO at $14 a share in March 2000 and listed on Nasdaq. In 2001 it bought the Unix business of the Santa Cruz Operation, and it later renamed itself The SCO Group. SCO then sued IBM and others, claiming Linux used its Unix code. The Linux world it once sold to became its target. The lawsuits went badly, and SCO filed for bankruptcy in 2007.

Cover: The Eruption of Vesuvius, Pierre-Jacques Volaire. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a volcano (caldera).