RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — (company press release) — Red Hat, Inc., a leader in Linux and open source solutions, announced today its official entry into the post-PC market to meet increasing demand for Red Hat's open source-based services and support. As its first open source offering in the embedded space, Red Hat is introducing the Red Hat Tools for Embedded Developers, an open source integrated… development environment (IDE) to deliver software developers everything needed to quickly and easily create open source, Linux-based applications on a wide spectrum of pervasive, post-PC computing devices.

Red Hat Tools let developers write an application on a Linux-based system and then easily deploy that application on embedded devices. It also enables developers to port existing Linux applications and content to a new generation of embedded devices. The Tools allow developers to be more productive and accelerate the adoption of Linux and open source technologies as a development and embedded OS platform for next-generation Internet and embedded devices, including Internet appliances, intelligent networking devices, PDAs and handhelds. The Red Hat Tools for Embedded Developers is the first embedded development solution resulting from the recent acquisition of Cygnus Solutions and will be demonstrated at this week's LinuxWorld Expo in New York, February 2-4, at the Red Hat booth #445.

“Today's announcement marks Red Hat's commitment to bringing the power of open source to the post-PC embedded market,” said Michael Tiemann, CTO, Red Hat, Inc. “Red Hat Tools leverage the success of our current service and support offerings for Linux, and are the first step in our vision to deliver the technology and services that are needed to design and build the next generation of Internet appliances and embedded devices.”

Powerful Open Source Offering for Linux Appliances

Red Hat tools for embedded developers combine the latest development and debugging technologies in a single package that offers everything needed for Linux developers to create and deploy applications for embedded IA-32 or PowerPC target systems running embedded Linux.
It includes:

• EL/IX Application Programming Interface, an embedded application programming interface (API) that makes it possible to use desktop Linux systems for application development and then easily recompile and deploy those applications across the complete spectrum of post-PC devices. A detailed white paper on the EL/IX standard can be found at sourceware.cygnus.com/elix.
  
• Intuitive, Graphical IDE with Embedded Cross-Platform Support – the next generation of Code Fusion, the award winning IDE from recently acquired Cygnus Solutions. This includes the latest release of open source, commercially supported GNU tools for cross-platform development. These include gcc, gdb, and the open source graphical user interface to gdb, Insight. The Tools also provide sophisticated source browsing functionality, build and project management tools, and remote debugging of embedded Linux targets.
  
• Priority access to Red Hat's embedded software repository with new ports and tools enhancements.
  
• An unmodified version of the x86 2.2.12 Linux kernel, which is currently shipping with Red Hat Linux 6.1.

“The continued fast-paced adoption of Linux depends on the availability of applications as well as the tools that drive applications,” said Dan Kusnetzky, program director, Operating Environments and Serverware. “Delivering applications for a new generation of post-PC, Internet-enabled devices requires an integrated development environment and a comprehensive set of development tools. Red Hat's tools appear to address that need by enabling developers to run Linux in embedded environments and develop applications that are portable across a range of computing devices.”

Leverages Red Hat's Unmatched Support Services

Last year, Red Hat also announced training and support specifically tailored for today's application programmers. The recent acquisition of Cygnus also delivered vast technical and development expertise for embedded, post-PC devices. The Tools include a powerful spectrum of support services for embedded Internet and next-generation, post-PC developers working on workgroup or enterprise projects. These include a subscription service featuring periodic maintenance releases and technology upgrades, installation support, consultation services, custom engineering development services, and developer training.

For a complete technical overview of Red Hat Tools and services, visit Redhat.com at www.redhat.com/products/tools/tools.html.

Pricing and Availability

Red Hat Tools for Embedded Developers support x86 and PowerPC platforms and are expected to be available in March 2000. The Tools are priced at $599 US List and includes email-based installation support along with a one-year subscription to priority FTP service, which includes product maintenance upgrades and convenient access to the latest embedded Linux technology.

Open Source Momentum

International Data Corp. (IDC) research states that Linux was the fastest-growing server operating environment in 1998, growing more than 190 percent in that year alone and capturing more than 15.8 percent of the 4.4 million revenue shipment server operating systems market segment. Additionally, IDC states that Red Hat Linux is by far the most popular distribution, preferred by 68.7 percent of U.S. Linux users.

According to research firm NetCraft, Inc. (www.netcraft.com), 29 percent of all public Web servers run on Linux, making Linux the most popular operating system for public Web sites. Finally, IDC predicts that by 2002, there will be more than 55 million handheld and notebook-style information appliance devices and that by 2005, shipments of these appliances will exceed shipments of PCs.

Red Hat's numerous alliances with industry leaders and the demand for Linux-based applications has created open source support from many of the industry's leading software and hardware manufacturers, including Compaq, Computer Associates, Corel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Netscape, Novell, Oracle and SAP.

About Red Hat, Inc.

Founded in 1994, Red Hat is the market leader in open source operating system (OS) software, services and information, spanning powerful enterprise and Internet servers to next-generation devices and pervasive computing platforms. Along with its award-winning open source Red Hat Linux OS, Red Hat offers a full line of services, including telephone support, on-site consulting, developer training, certification programs and priority access updates, making Red Hat a leading resource for knowledgeable, innovative, mission-critical open source solutions.

Red Hat develops and shares all of its software innovations freely with the open source community under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and other public licenses. The Official Red Hat Linux OS and related services are available directly from the company and through its partner, distributor and reseller programs, which include top PC and server manufacturers such as Compaq, Dell, Gateway, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Silicon Graphics.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.