Linuxcare Pursues Company Vision With Far-Reaching Set of Business Initiatives

(Washington, DC -- February 14, 2000) Pursuing a vision to establish Linux as the open standard for computer operating systems, Linuxcare Inc. today issued a far-reaching series of announcements that confirm the company's position as the premier provider of Linux services to the Global 1000.

"Our vision aims to free corporate customers from a frustrating dependence on closed operating-system vendors by providing comprehensive services for enterprise Linux environments," said Fernand Sarrat, CEO and President of Linuxcare. "The elements of the vision -- international reach, deep Linux expertise, and one source for all Linux technical services -- will help customers regain control over their technology infrastructure."

The announcements made today span the entire range of the company's activities, including the realms of financing, management, service offerings, technology, and customer sales. Chief among the announcements are:

Linuxcare has completed a second round of funding valued at $32.5 million. The backing comes from a luminary group of investors and corporate partners, including Patricof & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Dell Computer Corporation, Oracle Corporation, and Motorola, Inc.

Linuxcare has expanded the offerings delivered through its Professional Services Business Unit. Nine new Global Centers of Expertise will draw on a network of Linux gurus deployed worldwide to practice in areas such as parallel computing and clustering, application porting, device-driver development, and custom Linux distributions and applications.

Linuxcare has signed a new contract with Dell Computer Corporation, marking an expansion of the services provided to Dell that include technical support options for Dell's Linux systems around the world. In addition, under the agreement, Linuxcare Labs will certify Dell's Linux-based systems, and Linuxcare University will provide on-site training to Dell. The arrangement covers current and future versions of Linux distributions from Red Hat, Caldera, SuSE, TurboLinux and Debian.

Linuxcare has acquired The Puffin Group, the Ottawa-based professional services firm under contract with the Hewlett-Packard Company to port Linux to HP's UNIX servers. The Puffin Group has been long recognized as a leader in Linux and Open Source development activities. The management and staff of The Puffin Group will join the Linuxcare Professional Services Business Unit.

Linuxcare has expanded its Board of Directors by electing three technology leaders to help pursue the company's vision of enabling Linux to fulfill its potential as an open operating system standard. The new board members are John L. Drew, CEO of NetCare Professional Services at Lucent Technologies and formerly CEO of International Network Services (INS) prior to its acquisition by Lucent; Paul Vais, managing director at Patricof & Co.; and Ernest von Simson, who was co-founder, research director and chairman of the Research Board, a prominent CIO think tank.

New Recruitments Enlarge Guru Team

To further strengthen the deep Linux expertise sought by enterprise customers, Linuxcare has made additional company acquisitions and Linux "guru" recruitments. Existing members of the guru team include Senior Researcher Paul Mackerras, creator of the Linux PowerPC port. The new recruitments and acquisitions include:

• The acquisition of Prosa, a Padua, Italy-based consulting firm known for its expertise in developing Open Source device drivers for Linux. The firm has, among other projects, developed ET Linux, a port of Linux for embedded devices.
• The purchase of Cheek Consulting, a highly regarded Linux networking consultancy and developer of a leading CD-ROM and Web-based Linux knowledgebase. The knowledgebase will be integrated into Linuxcare's offering on www.linuxcare.com.
• Paul "Rusty" Russell, creator of the Linux IPChains firewalling and routing code.
• Stephen Rothwell, maintainer of the Linux Advanced Power Management (APM) software drivers.
• Phil Schwan, a key developer of the Intermezzo distributed file system.

Another element serving to further the Linuxcare vision is the creation of an innovative technology infrastructure enabling the delivery of breakthrough Linux services over the World Wide Web. Linuxcare will partner with infrastructure providers such as Cisco Systems, Digital Island, The Adrenaline Group, and middleware vendor ObjectSwitch to build an infrastructure of global scope and reach.

"This new infrastructure will enable superior customer services, and will allow us to scale our services to meet growing worldwide demand," Sarrat said. "In addition, we will enable original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, and corporations from all over the world to contact Linuxcare to access a comprehensive repository of all available Linux information sources -- about operating systems, third-party solutions and other proven services. The infrastructure will deliver one-stop shopping that is customer driven, readily accessible, and a powerful tool for forming strong alliances."

Enterprise Customers Support Linuxcare Vision

Sarrat pointed to a recent study by research and publishing firm Miller Freeman that corroborates the Linuxcare vision. The November 1999 study says that over 66 percent of IT managers and CIOs want a single source for their Linux service, support, and training needs. More than 74 percent want access to top Linux talent able to deliver services and support anywhere in the world.

With 57 percent of all Web servers running Apache -- and nearly 60 percent of those running atop Linux -- Open Source software is becoming the dominant platform for Internet infrastructure. Sarrat said that Linuxcare has bolstered its efforts as an Internet infrastructure provider by supporting Apache, Sendmail, Samba, and other key pieces of Open Source software that provide connectivity services to ISPs and corporate environments.

In addition, the company has expanded its technical support options to include key Linux-based enterprise software, including Sun's StarOffice Suite; IBM's DB2, WebSphere, SecureWay, and VisualAge; Oracle 81 for Linux; Informix Dynamic Server for Linux; Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise for Linux; and VMWare for Linux.

International Offices

With 74 percent of Miller Freeman respondents desiring access to top Linux talent anywhere in the world, Linuxcare today announced new offices to better serve customers among the Global 1000. In addition to existing company facilities in San Francisco, Canberra, and Amsterdam, Linuxcare has added offices in London, Tokyo, Ottawa, and Padua (Italy). Offices in Germany and France will be opened in the first quarter of 2000.

About Linuxcare, Inc.

Linuxcare, Inc. is the leading provider of customer services for enterprise Linux environments, including technical support, professional services, education, and product certification. Linuxcare supports all major distributions of Linux and leading Linux-based enterprise solutions on all major hardware platforms.

With funding from Kleiner Perkins, Patricof & Co. Ventures and others, Linuxcare counts Dell Computer, IBM, and Sun Microsystems among its strategic partners. The company hosts www.linuxcare.com, the world's leading online technical support resource for Linux. Founded in 1998, Linuxcare is headquartered in San Francisco. The company can be reached at 415/354-4878. Japanese information regarding Linuxcare services is now available through jpinfo@linuxcare.com.