Colorado Springs, Colo., March 9, 2000: Berkeley Software + Design, Inc. (BSDI) announced today that it has merged with Walnut + Creek CDROM, the distributor of the popular FreeBSD operating system. + As a merged company, the new BSDI unites the leading developers and + suppliers of the Berkeley Software Distribution operating system + BSDI will develop and deliver advanced BSDŽ Internet operating systems + and platforms, while providing the open source FreeBSD Project with + technology, backing and expanded support.
+ +BSD operating systems run some of the Internet's most highly trafficked + sites and largest service providers, including Yahoo!, Microsoft's + Hotmail and UUNET, an MCI WorldCom company. BSD and Linux are today's + fastest-growing operating systems, according to Survey.com, the leading + eResearch company.
+ +BSD operating system, networking and Internet technologies have + achieved widespread acceptance in the Internet infrastructure. Over + 100,000 commercial Internet customers run BSD operating systems on more + than 2,000,000 BSD-powered servers. It is estimated that nine out of 10 + Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Network Service Providers (NSPs) + as well as 15 percent of all Internet sites run BSD systems. BSD + operating systems are also embedded in innovative Internet appliances + from Intel, IBM, Lucent, F5 Labs, Hitachi and many others.
+ +BSDI also announced that Yahoo! Inc. will take an equity interest in + the new company. BSDI will leverage the equity interest to execute on + its plan to build a bridge between open source innovation and commercial + requirements. The equity position will be used to grow BSDI's presence + as a leading provider of the most advanced Internet operating systems + for the Internet infrastructure.
+ +BSDI intends to form a united front for the BSD operating systems. The + company will deliver, support and enhance both BSD/OS and FreeBSD. BSDI + and the FreeBSD Project are jointly evaluating the technology and market + requirements for merging parts of the code bases for the two operating + systems.
+ +"BSD technologies have evolved from a long history of advanced + computing at the core of the Internet," said Dr. Marshall Kirk + McKusick, BSDI's chairman of the board. "The new BSDI will further + enrich the popular BSD computing platform, which is already widely + deployed throughout the world." McKusick was a founding member of the + University of California at Berkeley's Computer Systems Research Group + (CSRG) and is widely acknowledged as a key early contributor to the open + source movement.
+ +To drive the new BSDI's vision, roadmap and continued profitable + growth, Gary J. Johnson has been appointed chief executive officer. + Johnson is an experienced technology executive who has served in a + variety of senior management, sales, marketing and operations capacities + with leading Silicon Valley companies including Tandem Computers + (Compaq), Convergent Technologies (Unisys) and SCO. Johnson most + recently served as president of ClickService Software, a leading + provider of e-commerce, customer relationship management (CRM) + software.
+ +"Innovation in the operating systems arena relies heavily on work in + the open source community," said Johnson. "To date, Linux suppliers, + such as Red Hat Software and VA Linux, have captured impressive + attention for the open source approach to development. At the core of + the Internet, however, BSD technologies are pervasive. The new BSDI will + be working closely with the open source community to ensure that + advanced BSD Internet operating systems and platforms continue to meet + the ever-increasing demands for Internet servers, applications, + appliances and other elements vital to the Internet infrastructure."
+ +In addition to his current responsibilities, Mike Karels, BSDI's vice + president of engineering and the former chief system architect and + principal programmer for the University of California at Berkeley's + CSRG, plans to join the architectural team for the FreeBSD Project. + Karels, who replaced Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy at the CSRG, + is recognized as one of the world's foremost developers of Unix + internals and TCP/IP networking software.
+ +"BSD technologies have contributed to Yahoo!'s continued success by + offering the reliability and level of service necessary to ensure the + availability and scalability we need to keep Yahoo! up and running + around the clock regardless of increasing user demand," said David Filo, + co-founder and Chief Yahoo, Yahoo! Inc.
+ +The new BSDI will sell and support FreeBSD, BSD/OS, BSDI Internet Super + Server and value-added BSD product lines through its worldwide sales + channels to Internet infrastructure providers, appliance developers and + business users. BSDI will offer commercially supported BSD operating + systems and related applications, Internet appliance platforms, + technical support and services, open source software development, and + consulting services. The company will deliver its BSD Internet and + networking technologies on leading microprocessor platforms, including + Intel, SPARC, Alpha, PowerPC and StrongARM.
+ +BSDI will continue to develop, enhance and distribute BSD/OS and + FreeBSD according to the terms of the business-friendly, unencumbered + Berkeley software license, which encourages development for open source + software projects, embedded systems, specialized applications, + information appliances and other operating system-enabled products.
+ +BSDI will expand and accelerate Walnut Creek CDROM's FreeBSD open + source initiatives by sharing BSD/OS technical innovations with the + FreeBSD Project and by providing this open source project with + operational and technical support, marketing and funding. BSDI will + continue to distribute packaged versions of FreeBSD and also plans to + develop value-added products based on FreeBSD as well as to provide + technical support, consulting services, educational services and + training for FreeBSD customers. These steps are expected to promote and + invigorate the BSD open source computing movement. The FreeBSD Project + develops the popular FreeBSD operating system and aggregates and + integrates contributed software from more than 5,000 developers + worldwide.
+ +"We are delighted that BSDI is backing the FreeBSD open source + community," said Jordan Hubbard, chief evangelist and co-founder of the + FreeBSD Project. "The new BSDI has considerable expertise in + commercializing, maintaining, distributing and supporting the world's + most advanced Internet operating systems. We are excited and greatly + looking forward to partnering with BSDI's chief developers, especially + Mike Karels and other original members of UC Berkeley's CSRG, to + accelerate operating system, networking and Internet innovation."
+ +"Open source operating systems like BSD offer better technology and + more choices to the customer," said Eric Raymond, president of the Open + Source Initiative. "I expect BSDI to prove yet again that the open + source and business communities can really to do great things together, + driving the industry forward as dramatically as the Internet."
+ +"Our research shows that BSD and Linux will increase their share of + enterprise servers by between 100 percent and 500 percent over the next + two years in the fundamental applications that run U.S. business," said + Dave Trowbridge, senior analyst at Survey.com. "This new company will + help ensure that BSD gets its place in the sun, which its rich heritage + and solid technical foundations deserve."
+ +Berkeley Software Distribution operating system technologies were + originally developed from 1979 to 1992 by the Computer Systems Research + Group (CSRG) at the University of California at Berkeley. + Berkeley-derived operating system and networking technologies are at the + heart of most modern Unix and Unix-like operating systems. Today, + virtually every major Internet infrastructure provider uses BSD + operating systems. BSD operating system technologies are used by + leading mission-critical network computing environments and are embedded + in Internet appliance platforms that require advanced Internet + functionality, reliability and security.
+ +FreeBSD is a popular open source operating system developed by the + FreeBSD Project and its worldwide team, consisting of more than 5,000 + developers funneling their work to 185 "committer" developers. It is + available free of charge from ftp.FreeBSD.org and also distributed as a + shrink-wrap software product through CompUSA, Fry's, Borders, Ingram, + FreeBSDmall.com and others. FreeBSD includes thousands of ported + applications, including the most popular Web, Internet and E-mail + applications. FreeBSD is distributed under the Berkeley Software + Distribution license, which means that it can be copied and modified + freely. For more information about the FreeBSD Project, visit www.FreeBSD.org.
+ +Walnut Creek CDROM was founded in 1991 and began publishing Linux + software in 1992, and BSD software in 1993. The company has a long + history of working closely with the free software community and + providing funding, staffing and other resources for open source + projects. Walnut Creek CDROM publishes numerous software titles, + including FreeBSD and Slackware, the most BSD-like version of Linux.
+ +About Berkeley Software Design, Inc. (BSDI)
+ +Leading BSD developers founded Berkeley Software Design, Inc. in 1991 + to commercialize BSD technologies and continue the Berkeley Unix + tradition of robust, reliable and extremely secure Internet operating + systems for network computing. By merging Berkeley Software Design, Inc. + and Walnut Creek CDROM, BSDI becomes the world's leading supplier of + advanced Internet operating systems for the Internet infrastructure. + Contact BSDI at info@BSDI.com or at + www.BSDI.com or call 1-719-593-9445 + (toll free: 1-800-800-4273).
+ +BSD is a registered trademark and BSD/OS and BSDI are trademarks of + Berkeley Software Design, Inc. Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are registered + trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All trademarks mentioned in this document are + the property of their respective owners.
+ +Contact:
+Kevin Rose
+BSDI
+801-553-8166
+kgr@bsdi.com
Jordan Hubbard
+FreeBSD Project
+925-691-2863
+jkh@FreeBSD.org
Brigid Fuller
+ZNA Communications
+831-425-1581
+brigid@zna.com