> 1996: Version 2.0 of the Linux kernel is released. The kernel can now serve several processors at the same time using symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), and thereby becomes a serious alternative for many companies.
Linux had been around for half a decade at that point, and companies took note and reacted accordingly in 1998.
Until 1998 was a toy kernel, that barely worked except in very special cases, as someone that tried to use 1.0.9 with IDE CD-ROMs in 1994, or fighting with X modeline for the graphics card to display a barely working 800x600 in 1996, will recall.
Only after those guys stepped in, it matured to something that would compete with Solaris, during the 2000's dotcom wave.
Ask yourself, why would large multinational corps step in to save a failing product that isn't their own, unless that product was a serious contender that threatened their bottom line.
> 1996: Version 2.0 of the Linux kernel is released. The kernel can now serve several processors at the same time using symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), and thereby becomes a serious alternative for many companies.
Linux had been around for half a decade at that point, and companies took note and reacted accordingly in 1998.