VA Linux Systems' share value rose nearly 700 percent following its initial public offering Thursday, setting a record for a first-day percentage gain on Wall Street.

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VA Linux, which started the day with an offer price of $30, saw its shares rise to a high of $320 before closing at $239.25, up a whopping 697.5 percent, on a volume of 7.68 million shares.

VA Linux distributes and services the open-source Linux operating system, which is seen by some as a potential alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. Linux is much less widely used than Windows, but has been touted by some as a strong, low-cost platform for Web servers.

"There is the belief that Linux will be the alternative OS [to Windows] and that it has the potential for supplanting Microsoft," Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies of San Jose, California, said today in a telephone interview.

Red Hat, another Linux distributor, went public Aug. 11 at $14 a share and has since seen its stock rise to $286.

VA Linux Systems Inc., in Sunnyvale, Calif., is at www.valinux.com.