Gateway tries on Red Hat for size.

Gateway, a company best known for its home computer systems, is the latest company to join the Linux movement. Gateway will install Red Hat_s version of Linux on its own brand of servers, called ALR, when customers specifically request it, the companies said. The step follows competitors Compaq, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, all of which offer systems certified for Linux, a Unix-like operating system that is most popular on servers that make up computer networks. These computing leaders have promised for several months that they would configure their own server models to work with Linux, but to date only Dell offers servers installed with the Linux operating system as a standard feature. Red Hat stock soared to new heights today, up 23 percent to a new high of 108. Following today_s run, the company claims a market capitalization of more than $7 billion. Red Hat, the first Linux company to go public, has been a standard-bearer of the open-source movement. Two Wall Street firms began covering the company today, with Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Sherlund giving the stock a "market outperform" rating, while Hambrecht and Quist_s Christopher Galvin placed a "buy" rating on Red Hat shares. Also today, Red Hat announced the opening of its new Japanese office, called Red Hat Japan, which will sell Red Hat software and services directly to the Japanese market. Red Hat_s decision to set up its own international office is a change of direction for the company, which previously had partnered with Itsutsubshi Research to develop and market Red Hat Linux for Japan.