Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 13:07:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Peigi Cleminshaw <peigi@suse.com> To: press@suse.com, oakland@suse.com, suna@suse.com Subject: [press] Press Release: SuSE forms Distribution Agreement with Ingram Micro May 1st, 2000 SuSE Inc. Forms North American Distribution Agreement With Ingram Micro Distribution Deal Supports Growing Retail Demand for SuSE Linux OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - MAY 1, 2000 - Citing a rising public demand for its latest version of Linux, SuSE Inc. (www.suse.com) partnered with Ingram Micro Inc.(NYSE:IM), the world's largest wholesale provider of technology products and services, to deliver SuSE's line of Linux software products to top North American software retailers. The one-year renewable agreement is effective immediately and includes SuSE Linux CD and DVD versions for the Intel platform, Alpha, and the future release of a version for PPC. All SuSE products sold through Ingram Micro's retail channels will carry SuSE's highly recognized product support and customer guarantees. "About 70% of our $22 million 1999 revenue was from sales of our boxed products," said Volker Wiegand, CEO of SuSE Inc. in the US. "Last year's US revenues were up 350% and, with demand continuing to rise, this partnership with Ingram Micro is key to our being able to get our SuSE Linux to millions of users. With its huge distribution network, Ingram Micro is the perfect partner for SuSE." As part of the agreement, SuSE's support database, online documentation and 60-day installation support are available for all products purchased through Ingram Micro's channel of retailers, which includes CompUSA, Office Depot, Office Max, Best Buy and Walmart. "Bringing SuSE Linux to retail outlets throughout North America will give enterprise, as well as small- and medium-sized companies, the opportunity to easily find and purchase SuSE Linux from the outlets they know and trust," said Al Mann, senior vice president, product management, Ingram Micro Inc. "We look forward to a very successful relationship, as SuSE continues to deliver innovation and greater performance to the business and Internet communities." About SuSE: Founded in 1992, SuSE Linux is the international technology leader and solution provider in open source operating system (OS) software, setting new standards for quality and ease of use. Its award-winning SuSE Linux 6.3 and the newly released 6.4 include thousands of third party Linux applications supported by extensive professional consulting and support services, excellent documentation, comprehensive hardware support, and an encyclopedic set of Linux tools. Designed for Web and enterprise server environments and efficient as a home and office platform, SuSE's distribution, surrounding features, effective configuration and intelligent design result in the most complete Linux solution available today. SuSE Holding AG, headquartered in Germany, and SuSE Inc., based in Oakland, CA, are privately held companies focused entirely on supporting the Linux community, Open Source development and the GNU General Public License. With a workforce of over 340 people worldwide, SuSE has offices in Germany, the UK, Czech Republic and in the US. More than 50,000 business customers, including Daimler-Chrysler and Siemens, use SuSE Linux worldwide due to its stability and high quality. SuSE received the "Show Favorites" award at LinuxWorld Expo 2000 in New York in February 2000 and March 1999. Further awards: Reader's Choice Awards: Linux Journal, 1/99; PC Professional 4/99; Computer Bild 6/99; PC Intern 4/99; PC Magazin 4/99, PC Answers 8/99. SuSE contributes considerably to Linux development projects such as the Linux kernel, glibc, XFree86(TM), KDE, ISDN4Linux, ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) and USB (Universal Serial Bus). Additional information about SuSE can be found at http://www.suse.com. Xenia von Wedel Account Executive The Terpin Group xvonwedel@terpin.com tel: (650) 344-4944 fax: (650) 344-4992