Red Hat turned in a healthy first quarter amid signs it's evolving into a multifaceted operation, thanks to growing sales of JBoss and use of channel partners.

The Linux vendor saw net income grow 18 per cent to $17.1m on revenue that increased 41.5 per cent to $118.8m, and earnings per diluted share that increased a penny to $0.08 for the period to May 31. Subscriptions to Red Hat Linux grew 44 per cent to $103m.