The leading supplier of Linux operating systems continues to ramp up in what is seen as efforts to expand its open-source stack.

In April this year, it acquired JBoss, a popular Java-based middleware product. Red Hat had said the acquisition will add to its earnings next year and that fast-growing JBoss was on track to take in US$60 million in revenue this year.

With Linux fast maturing, vendors in the open-source space too have been shaping up to better meet the needs of business customers and developers. Specifically, to ensure that independent software vendors get access to the latest iterations of the Linux operating system on which to build their applications, Red Hat in April announced plans for 17 development centers worldwide.

Better yet are Red Hat's balance sheets. For the quarter ended Feb. 28, 2006, the company's net income rose 131 percent to US$27.3 million, or US$0.13 per share, ahead of analyst expectations.

But even as Red Hat expects a good run in the days ahead, company chief executive Matthew Szulik has said complacency will not rear its ugly head, as the company is only beginning to deepen its global footprint.

Red Hat ranks among ZDNet Asia's Top 10 fastest-growing companies for 2006/07.