CEO of Red Hat Steps Down

bearer_of_bad_news points us to a C|net article which states that Matthew Szulik is stepping down as the president and chief executive of Red Hat. Szulik is citing family health reasons, and he plans to remain chairman of the board. Red Hat has indicated that his replacement will be former Delta Airlines COO James Whitehurst. Quoting the article: "On a conference call, Szulik said Whitehurst stood 'head and shoulders' above other candidates interviewed in a recruiting process. He was a programmer earlier in his career and runs four versions of Linux at home." We discussed Szulik's ascension to CEO back in 1999.

I remember

[renegadesx (977007)]

I remember the 1999 article about Szulik rising to CEO level. Since then Red Hat has done alot and have become very successful in their business model.

Not to mention making a rival in Oracle after buying JBoss, so in retaliation we see Unbreakable Linux.
And despite Novell's best efforts and prostituting themselves out to Microsoft we still see Red Hat in the #1 position.

Red Hat will do great without him (a company after all is bigger than one man) but we have seen a company growing so well under his leadership and that speaks volumes

Delta is perhaps

[by Anonymous Coward]

The worst Airline i've ever traveled on and sadly their customer service, from top to bottom; is horrid. There are even fully dedicated [deltareallysucks.com] sites describing how bad the service is. Hell, just see for yourself [google.com]. Seeing as the COO's job is to make sure that said Corporation or company is operating to serve it's customers at the behest of the almighty dollar. I have a very strong feeling that Redhat is in for an extremely bumpy ride. I'm actually really sad to read that this appointment is going to take place. It's hard not to hold Delta's performance against him really.

Re:Delta is perhaps

[pclminion (145572)]

Dude, the article indicates that the everybody who interviewed him was impressed. If that's true, and he really is a moron, that means that everybody ELSE at RedHat is also a moron. And if THAT'S the case, then it was fucked anyway. One man can't sink a ship. Okay, if he has several pounds of explosive he can sink a ship. Let's check his pockets.

Re:Delta is perhaps

[samkass (174571)]

It's actually surprisingly hard to weed out the morons. It's especially hard to weed out the seemingly normal people who will go bonkers on you down the line. Interviewing well is one of the most difficult (and important) thing a company can possibly do, IMHO.

Re:

[explosivejared (1186049)]

It's actually surprisingly hard to weed out the morons

/. moderation seems to do it pretty well. (glances at most recent YRO comments).... oh wait... nevermind.

Re:

[wizardforce (1005805)]

he can sink a ship if he steers them into an "iceberg" or for that matter "doesn't know there is an iceberg" like the titanic.

Re:

[jimicus (737525)]

Finding decent staff is damn hard at any level - because at every level you have timewasters, fools, people who are applying for something they're way underqualified for, people who are applying for something they're way overqualified for and former HP executives.

Out of that list of people you really don't want to hire, a certain number can probably bluff their way through the interview process. Every company of any decent size has hired at least a few staff who they've wished they didn't.

Re:

[Knuckles (8964)]

Yeah, well, the article doesn't indicate who interviewed him, so this "everybody who interviewed him was impressed" statement doesn't necessarily carry much weight.

Yeah, I think at RedHat, candidates for the CEO position are interviewed by a panel of gardener, janitor, and head of cleaning personnel.

Re:

[rsidd (6328)]

the worst Airline i've ever traveled on

I don't think they're worse than any other US-based airline. From what I've heard, Northwest is by far the worst, but the rest of them rank pretty close (I've only flown Delta, AA, US Airways). Airlines in Europe and Asia are orders of magnitude better.

Re:

[testadicazzo (567430)]

This is getting a bit off-topic, but Delta can't compete with Air-Tran for chronically bad service. My experience with Air-Tran was so horrible I can't bring myself to tell the whole story. But, I will say that my crappy experience seemed to be the norm, as opposed to being an unlucky extreme. I had to stand in line waiting 3 hours to reschedule my connecting flight, since they had overbooked. The line never got shorter. As I watched, new people populated the line at about the same rate, or greater, th

Re:

[Angostura (703910)]

To regain your sense of perspective, I suggest you try Continental. /bleugh.

Re:

[colourmyeyes (1028804)]

See my sig.

Release the haters

[pembo13 (770295)]

I can just feel the energy as RedHat hatters relish the words that they are soon to release upon Slashdot.

Re:

[Misanthrope (49269)]

Why is Red Hat like a writing desk?

Re:Release the haters

[Bill, Shooter of Bul (629286)]

Hatters? Yes, Yes all of our haberdashers are always very excited about any story mentioning stylish hattery.

Airline?

[jeffkjo1 (663413)]

The former head of an airline to take over the reigns at <insert business here>???.... that makes about as much sense as letting the former head of an airline take over the reigns at <insert business here>.

Oh... wait...

Re:Airline?

[dosius (230542)]

Or the former head of a soda company taking over the CEO role at a computer manufacturer...oh wait...

-uso.

Re:

[seanadams.com (463190)]

Or the former head of a soda company taking over the CEO role at a computer manufacturer...oh wait...

Not sure what you meant by the "oh wait". That was John Sculley, not Steve Jobs, and by the time he left in 1993 he had brought the company to its knees.

Re:Airline?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Well, the good news is that the new guy is expected to be great at controlling costs. The bad news is that now all of your packets will have a stopover in Atlanta.

Re:

[jd (1658)]

Depends on whether you want something that crashes. If you do, an airline exec would be the ideal choice.

Re:Airline?

[Plutonite (999141)]

-I just hope my processes don't get scheduling like Delta flights.

-It would be awesome if Fedora gets renamed to Redhat Linux Economy Edition.

-
1)Allow more packets to be sent than you can possibly handle
2)Delay said packets citing bad network conditions
3)????
4)Profit! ...etc..etc

Not just any airline, the corp parent of Comair

[RCSInfo (847666)]

Remember when this [slashdot.org] happened? Interesting choice bringing in a manager whose company experienced a very publicized computer crash during his tenure. Hopefully Mr. Whitehurst carries forward some of the lessons learned from that experience.

5 posts and no reigns-REINS correction yet?

[xxxJonBoyxxx (565205)]

5 posts and no reigns-REINS correction yet? Yeesh.

Seriously, though, can someone translate Szulik's last little bit of CEO-speak for me?

"When there is zero expectation of financial remuneration, everything is Hollywood."

Old Discussion

[Khakionion (544166)]

It's funny reading the old discussion about the CEO's ascension...

"More Alpha support!" "YellowDog is good enough for PPC!" "Alpha users need to band together!"

Heh.

Too late to do any good for Red Hat

[by Anonymous Coward]

I'm speaking as somebody who saw how close-up how the executive level worked at Red Hat for two years. I saw a lot of bad decisions that were made systematically, dooming Red Hat to a mere niche in the software market.

Red Hat passed up a lot of opportunities, all to satisfy the MBAs and their cronies who took over during Szulik's reign and eased out the founding generation. The problem was that the company became obsessed by meeting financial goals in the short term instead of using their good will and

a good man

[davejenkins (99111)]

I worked for Red Hat from 2001-2004, and I will say that Matthew Szulik is a good man. He is one of those types that remembers everyone in the room, and remembers your name even though you haven't spoken to him for weeks or months. It was a crazy time, taking the company through the transition from start-up to 'real' company. His emails were sometimes non-sequitir stream of conciousness things, but at other times were very visionary and helpful.

It was great to work for a company where everyone felt they were on a mission-- good times, good times.

Good Luck, Mr Szulik.

The next version of Red Hat ...

[DraconPern (521756)]

The next version of Red Hat Linux will ...
- No longer come with any entertaiment software.
- Have nice icons and background that cost extra, and
- Be delayed from original release date because...
- there will be a major restructuring, while
- all the programmers go on strike.
 

Might be a good thing...

[HockeyPuck (141947)]

Bringing in talent from outside your industry has worked quite well in the past..

Lest you forget what IBM did in 1993, by bringing in a former CEO of AMEX and RJR Nabisco.. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/biography/10153.wss [ibm.com] I wouldn't mind seeing RedHat duplicating IBM's turnaround, and becoming a $150B company.

Here's hoping

[Allnighterking (74212)]

Here's hoping he can do for Red Hat what he did for Delta. No, wait, that didn't come out right

Some of the greats

[mcrbids (148650)]

Another great guy from Red Hat is Bob Young [lulu.com] who went on to start LULU.com [lulu.com]. This guy really groks the whole "open source" thing. Since I've built my million-dollar business on the back of RedHat Linux, I can say with complete honesty, I really appreciate their efforts!

Ah, great

[HangingChad (677530)]

his replacement will be former Delta Airlines COO James Whitehurst.

Now that means all your cron jobs will run late and RedHat will stop giving out those little packages of peanuts.

Re: Euphemisms

[eln (21727)]

It means the board told him if he didn't step down, his family would soon be in very poor health.

Re:

[darkrowan (976992)]

I've always understood 'Family Reasons' to mean he wanted to quit, and 'To explore other opportunities' was 'don't let the door hit you on the ass'.

Re:

[jamesh (87723)]

OK, so in the world of corporate euphemisms, that means what?

Or maybe it means family health reasons... it's always hard to tell.

Re: Euphemisms

[Cal Paterson (881180)]

Seeing as he plans to remain chairman of the board, that seems doubtful

Re: Euphemisms

[kripkenstein (913150)]

OK, so in the world of corporate euphemisms, that means what? The board isn't happy with him why?

Seeing as he plans to remain chairman of the board, that seems doubtful

Mod parent up.

Indeed, if 'family health reasons' was a euphemism for something, he wouldn't be left on the board, especially not as chairman. No, it looks like this is exactly what it appears to be: Szulik has a family member with health issues that require Szulik's full attention. This is presumably a very sad and difficult situation, one that we wouldn't wish on anyone.

The only consolation, and a very partial one at that, is that Szulik has the financial means to indeed leave his job and devote himself to doing his best for his family.

Re:

[Daniel Phillips (238627)]

Actually, no, Red Hat revenue and profit are way up, 20% and 39% respectively, mea culpa. Somebody mod parent into oblivion please. Red Hat is still growing just fine.

Re:ut oh

[Aussie (10167)]

but is he Emacs or Vi ?

Re:ut oh

[DamnStupidElf (649844)]

but is he Emacs or Vi ?

The answer is almost certainly an unequivocal "Yes."

Re:

[smitty_one_each (243267)]

The only thing you need to learn in Emacs is C-h C-h (hold down the control key and tap 'h' twice).
The uber-help menu will take you where you need to go.
When befuddled, M-x doctor (Alt-x, then type 'doctor' in the mini-buffer) will call up Eliza, the built-in doctor.
Can't confirm if this is really Dr. Eliza Spaceman (spuh-chay-man), the parent of Dr. Leo Spaceman [wikipedia.org] on 30 Rock [wikipedia.org], but it is fun to speculate.
With service like this, how can these pagan infidels denigrate the Esteemed Mother Amongst Computer Sof

Re:Some insight into Matthew Szulik

[Daniel Phillips (238627)]

Actually, this is a good question. I'm a bit worried because Matthew is a "Linux person". I had the chance to meet him when he come to Bloomington and he has been with Red Hat since the mid 90s and has been a Linux user all this time. I doubt the same could be said for the Delta guy, but maybe not?

Bringing in somebody who is not only has no open source credentials but no tech credentials at all? You can tell me all the head and shoulders stories you like, but this amounts to nothing more than another step in Red Hat losing the plot. The slide started years ago, however the rapid expansion of the Linux server market tended to keep Red Hat's missteps from translating immediately into poor financial performance. Now it is way too obvious to ignore. If you think for a moment I am sure you will remember a few of the more egregious community relations fiascos, hostile takeovers of community projects, burning the desktop community, etc. It is just those self inflicted wounds that are hurting Red Hat now, and what do they do? Bring in an airlines guy. Sheesh. It shows you just how far Red Hat management has drifted from reality. Remember the Pepsicola guy who ran Apple into the ground.

Re:Some insight into Matthew Szulik

[hdparm (575302)]

You, Sir, clearly have no idea whatsoever what you are talking about.

One of the major reasons why Red Hat will soon become $1Bn+ revenue company is the fact that they invested so much into community through Fedora Project. Everybody and their dog bitch about RH product line discontinuation, forgetting that the code base has been split into two superior products, unparalleled in the Linux world. Slowly but steadily Fedora has largely been put back to community care. Community that has learned A LOT from Red Hat and gave back enormous amount of code improvements to various upstream projects. CentOS is there, too - another proof of how much Red Hat Inc. actually care.

They know what they are doing. If they say that James Whitehurst is culturally good fit, I believe them.

Re:

[Daniel Phillips (238627)]

One of the major reasons why Red Hat will soon become $1Bn+ revenue company is the fact that they invested so much into community through Fedora Project. Everybody and their dog bitch about RH product line discontinuation, forgetting that the code base has been split into two superior products, unparalleled in the Linux world. Slowly but steadily Fedora has largely been put back to community care

Oh really? Red Hat appoints five members of the fedora board and only 4 are elected, assuring Red Hat of complete control over the project. Community, bah.

CentOS is there, too - another proof of how much Red Hat Inc. actually care.

Why do you suppose CentOS would exist if Fedora is the be all and end all of community projects? Oh right, CentOS is not controlled by Red Hat.

They know what they are doing. If they say that James Whitehurst is culturally good fit, I believe them.

Highly skeptical that an airline exec can learn the open source business. What Red Hat needs is somebody who can go play with the community. Now there is the claim he runs Linux and was once a programmer, O

Re:4 versions of Linux

[WestCoastJTF (1192081)]

He probably can't afford RHES even with his employee discount.

Re:

[cumin (1141433)]

one of my co-workers who did told me that Jim mentioned that he runs Fedora on one of his computers, and is very much a Linux user. This brought a smile to my face.

No wait, what?!? You're kidding right? The idea that the new CEO might not be a Linux user, or might not run Red Hat software is so plausible that the confirmation that he is a "Linux user" is seen as noteworthy? What the heck? Would they consider putting someone in that position who was "a Mac user" or "a Windows user" or even "sometimes uses L

Re:4 versions of Linux

[spevack (210449)]

No wait, what?!? You're kidding right? The idea that the new CEO might not be a Linux user, or might not run Red Hat software is so plausible that the confirmation that he is a "Linux user" is seen as noteworthy? What the heck? Would they consider putting someone in that position who was "a Mac user" or "a Windows user" or even "sometimes uses Linux?"

Seeing as you are commenting on my blog post, let me concur with you:

*I* think it would be insane to hire someone to be Red Hat's CEO who isn't a Linux user. But I am just one Red Hat employee. Keep in mind the perspective -- shock that the CEO of your company is stepping down, and sadness because he's a great leader who everyone respects. So hearing "not only is the new guy a Linux user, but he knows and uses Fedora" would make you smile at that moment.

That is all.

Re:4 versions of Linux

[Bruzer (191590)]

a "Linux user" is seen as noteworthy? What the heck?

I disagree with you and think it IS noteworthy, and of special interest to the Slashdot audience.

Many CEOs appear more like lawyers or salesmen/women. They may be very smart, but don't strike me as technical minded.

Running 4 different distributions of Linux implies a fair bit of technical knowledge, more than Windows and Mac usage. I find that I use more console commands in Linux than the other operating systems, and to know those commands requires reading man pages or other documentation, something that the average user may not do.

Each distribution of Linux can have different configuration commands and nuances. You may know how to configure the sound card on one distribution but another distribution can be totally different.

Linux comes pre-installed on only a few PCs, and I am going to assume the four systems didn't come with Linux. Most of the time you have to install and often configure it which is (and lets be honest) can be more difficult than Windows or Mac OS.

The bottom line is I don't know of many CEO type people that use Linux at home. I don't think the CEO of my company could do anything productive with Linux without significant help from technical staff, much less install and configure it at home for personal use.

I think the CEO candidate of a Linux company using Linux at home is noteworthy, relevant, and interesting.

Re:

[uncqual (836337)]

A new CEO of RH using four versions of Linux at home is interesting. But, if I were an investor, I would prefer that he ran one or one version of Linux, a recent (preferably a server version) version of Windows, a recent version of Mac (ideally Leopard), a version of Open Solaris, and perhaps something out of the mainstream. RH's competitor is not other Linux version, it's Windows, Solaris, and perhaps AIX (and, on the desktop, perhaps Mac).

Re:

[init100 (915886)]

The bottom line is I don't know of many CEO type people that use Linux at home.

Michael Dell?

Re:

[loconet (415875)]

It is also worth noting he actually did his undergrad in Computer Science and Economics [foxbusiness.com]. MBA from Harvard, Linux user, not too shabby for the role.