home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
- INDUSTRY LEADERS INVEST IN RED HAT
- TO ACCELERATE LINUX SUCCESS
-
- Compaq, IBM, Novell, and Oracle Take Equity Positions in Leading Linux
- Software Builder to Help Bring Powerful Open Source Operating System to
- Their Customers
-
- Research Triangle, N.C.-March 9, 1999-Red Hat« Software, Inc., the leading
- builder of the Linux operating system, announced today that it has
- accepted
- offers of equity investments from Compaq, International Business Machines
- (IBM), Novell, and Oracle Corporation. These industry leaders will
- all take minority equity positions in Red Hat. The financial terms were
- not
- disclosed for any of these relationships by Red Hat or its partners.
-
- The announcement follows months of tremendous momentum for privately-held
- Red Hat, including equity investments from Intel, Netscape and venture
- capital firms Greylock and Benchmark Partners in September 1998.
-
- "Red Hat chose Compaq, IBM, Novell, and Oracle as equity partners
- because of their leadership positions in the computing industry. Their
- support of Red Hat is a broad endorsement of the Open Source Software
- model
- that is changing the entire software industry and driving the rapid
- adoption and success of Linux," said Robert F. Young, co-founder and CEO
- of
- Red Hat Software. "The support of a such a stellar group of leaders
- creates
- even more momentum for the Open Source Software movement and for Linux as
- a
- powerful, reliable, cost-effective and safe choice for any computing
- environment."
-
- More than 10 million users currently run the Linux operating system.
- According to IDC Research, Linux was the fastest-growing server operating
- environment in 1998, capturing more than 17 percent of all server
- operating
- system shipments. Red Hat Software builds, maintains and provides
- technical
- support for the Official Red Hat Linux operating system. Linux runs on
- Intel, Alpha and Sun SPARC platforms and will soon run on PowerPC systems.
-
- Today's announcement of equity funding by the leaders of the computing
- industry caps a month of major announcements from Red Hat.
- Hewlett-Packard,
- Compaq, Dell and IBM each announced plans to support Red Hat Linux on a
- variety of server and workstation systems. At last week's LinuxWorld Expo,
- Red Hat unveiled a new web portal (www.redhat.com) designed to be the
- primary web destination for anyone interested in Linux news, support,
- products and community information.
-
- About Linux
- Linux is the cooperatively developed POSIX-oriented, multi-user,
- multi-tasking operating system used worldwide. Linux is strongly
- differentiated from virtually all other operating systems because it is
- "open source" software, with the source code freely available to all
- users.
- Unlike binary-only operating systems that restrict access to the
- source code, Linux benefits from a worldwide community of highly
- experienced programmers and technically savvy academics who have the
- access
- to enhance and improve the system. Linux is used as an exceptional-value,
- fully functional UNIX workstation for Internet servers and other
- applications. Red Hat Linux is maintained as "freely distributable"
- software available from many sites on the Internet.
-
- About Red Hat « Software, Inc.
- Founded in 1994, Red Hat Software is based in Research Triangle Park, NC,
- where it builds and maintains the award winning Red Hat Linux operating
- system. Working in cooperation with a huge development team of research,
- academic, and commercial software developers over the Internet, Red Hat's
- goal is to build the most accessible and advanced operating system
- available anywhere. Red Hat Linux for Intel«, Compaq AlphaServerÖ, and Sun
- SPARC« platforms continues to gain recognition in the computer industry.
- >From 1996 to the present, Red Hat Linux was named InfoWorld's Product of
- the Year three times, was given a Productivity accolade in Software
- Development's "Jolt" Awards, was named an Environment/Desktop finalist in
- the Ziff-Davis European Excellence Awards, won the editor's choice awards
- from both the Linux Journal and Australian Personal Computing magazines,
- and won the "Just Plain Cool" award.
-
-
- About Compaq (NYSE:CPQ)
-
- About IBM (NYSE: IBM)
- IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years
- of
- leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM creates, develops and
- manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies,
- including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices,
- and microelectronics. The fastest way to get more information about IBM
- is
- through the IBM home page at http://www.ibm.com.
-
- About Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL)
-
- Novell, Inc. is the world's largest network software company and the
- leader
- in directory-enabled network solutions. Novell solutions make networks
- more
- manageable, secure and affordable for organizations of every kind and
- size.
- Novell's worldwide channel, developer, education and technical support
- programs are the most extensive in the network computing industry. For
- information on Novell's complete range of products and services, contact
- Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272), or visit
- Novell's Web site at www.novell.com. Press may access Novell announcements
- and company information on the World Wide Web at www.novell.com/pressroom.
-
- Novell Internet Equity Fund
-
- The Novell Internet Equity Fund promotes Novell's interests in advancing
- innovative networking technologies. The $50 million fund typically makes
- investments in development-stage software companies that are in their
- first
- or second rounds of financing. The fund is focused on software products
- that support NDS and Java applications that run on servers, such as
- Novell's NetWare 5, for distribution across networks. Companies
- interested
- in the Fund can find more information about it at
- http://developer.novell.com/fund/.
-
- About Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) Oracle Corporation is the world's leading
- supplier of software for information management, and the world's second
- largest independent software company. With annual revenues of more than
- $8.0 billion, the company offers its database, tools and application
- products, along with related consulting, education, and support services,
- in more than 145 countries around the world. For more information about
- Oracle, please call 650/506-7000. Oracle's Worldwide Web address is (URL)
- http://www.oracle.com/.
-
-
- For more information or to interview representatives from the
- participating
- companies, contact these people:
-
- Compaq: Kristen Wilson kwilson@golinharris.com 617-266-8400
- IBM: Theo Chisholm, theoc@us.ibm.com 914-766-1180
- Oracle: Elizabeth Orgel, eorgel@us.oracle.com 650-506-2921
- Novell: John Pilmer, jpilmer@novell.com 801-222-5109
-
-
-
- For more information about Red Hat Software and Red Hat products and
- technologies, please call 1-888-REDHAT1 or visit our web site at
- http://www.redhat.com. Reviews encouraged.
- ###
-
- LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark
- of Red Hat Software, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open
- Group.
- Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.
- Compaq is a trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation.
- AlphaServer is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark office.
- All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective
- owners.
-
-
-