The company that sold Linux to businesses later spent years suing over it. Caldera Systems of Orem, Utah, packaged the free Linux operating system for companies and backed it with support. It went public in March 2000, one of a run of hot Linux IPOs after Red Hat and VA Linux. Two years later it had renamed itself SCO Group, and in 2003 it sued IBM, claiming Linux contained its Unix code.

Linux in a Box

Ransom Love and Bryan Sparks founded Caldera in 1994 with backing from Ray Noorda, the former Novell chief. They saw Linux as a cheap, open rival to Windows and Unix for business servers and desktops. Caldera sold its own version, OpenLinux, with installation tools and support contracts. The bet was that companies would trust free software once a real company stood behind it.

From Open Source to Courtroom

Caldera priced its IPO at $14 a share, above its first range of $7 to $9, and listed on Nasdaq as CALD. The stock opened at $26 and closed at $29.44, more than double. Sales never matched the hype. Caldera bought SCO's Unix business and took the SCO name in 2002. Its lawsuits against IBM and Linux users went badly, and SCO Group filed for bankruptcy in 2007.

Cover: Mono Lake, Volcano, 13,000 Feet, Timothy O'Sullivan. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a volcanic crater lake (a caldera).