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.

Comments

I remember

[renegadesx]

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

Re:Delta is perhaps

[pclminion]

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]

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:Delta is perhaps

[Anonymous Coward]

This has nothing to do with running a company like Redhat. Listen, there are a lot of smart people; some people can run companies. Some people can not, no matter how smart or well they interview. Based on Delta's performance and general customer service, there is NO WAY I feel comfortable having the COO from Delta running Redhat. There is simply no confidence in that hire, NONE. Now you may say, well Delta was an airline so the customers of Redhat are different and you'd be right. However, if as COO he couldn't get delta's customer service right what makes you think he'll be able to handle the demanding needs and vision a company like Redhat needs for its own customers? How hard is it to put a customer on a plane, put their luggage on the plane, barring mother nature getting them from point A to point B with some semblance of time. How hard is it to setup a program by which your employees adhere to a code of conduct? Why wasn't it done; if at the end of the day it amounts to money, that's still a telling degree of what's to come. You're free to give the guy the benefit of the doubt but I sure as hell will not.

Re: Euphemisms

[jamesh]

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]

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

Re:4 versions of Linux

[spevack]

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]

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: Euphemisms

[kripkenstein]

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:Some insight into Matthew Szulik

[Daniel Phillips]

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]

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:Some insight into Matthew Szulik

[Daniel Phillips]

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, OK, that is tech credentials of sorts. A far cry from participating in a tech organization or having a clue how the community off which Red Hat feeds works and works together. Who is going to teach him that? Matt? No sir. Matt is basically not there with the community. A few speeches, platitudes, lots of talk, very little walk. Has a bad habit of hiring managers with no open source credentials whatsoever, who busy themselves with laying waste to whatever community spirit Red Hat once had.

Re:Some insight into Matthew Szulik

[Daniel Phillips]

Red Hat hire good people. They by and large hire *from the community*, the ones passionate about it. And they back it all up with paid developer time. Red Hat is a revolving door for community people. A few stick, many find the dysfunctional management just too much to take.

Re:Some insight into Matthew Szulik

[module0000]

Red Hat is a revolving door for community people. A few stick, many find the dysfunctional management just too much to take. Do you work for Red Hat?

Obviously you have a boulder-sized chip on your shoulder about them, and lots of opinions about their inner workings.

Either (a) you work for them and have an issue. Or (b) you don't work for them and are a FUD spreading dipshit.