Investor demand for the 20-year notes was stronger than anticipated, allowing the Raleigh company to raise more money to pay for acquisitions or international expansion. That was fueled in part by growing interest in the Linux computer operating system and Red Hat's rising fortunes.

Sales at the world's largest distributor of the Linux computer operating system, an alternative to Microsoft's Windows, increased to $33.1 million in the third quarter, up 36 percent from the same period in 2002.

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