Red Hat Opts for Pragmatism Over Glitz (NY Times)

I think all Red Hat is waiting for is the right opportunity. The corporate desktop may seem staid and pinstriped, but there is plenty of incentive to push desktop productivity work to the next level through investments in Fedora. The Enterprise Linux product will catch up and provide what corporate customers want, when they are ready to pay for it.

That Red Hat itself doesn't get much revenue from low-margin and high-risk early-adopter consumer products that result from its work is not a significant loss for the company. The Free Software ecosystem does benefit from this even as the businesses that take the high-profile risks bloom and wither.

I believe Red Hat's commercial caution will pay off handsomely in the long term. When the consumer market seeks real expertise at the right price, they will know where to find it.