From:	 Ned Barnett <nbarnett@upstart.com>
To:	 "'Michael Hammel '" <MJHAMMEL@LWN.NET>
Subject: Turbolinux Announces Market-Opening New Distribution
Date:	 Mon, 13 Aug 2001 17:43:23 -0700


Turbolinux Creates Custom Distribution for The Credit Index's S/390 System

Based on kernel 2.4.5, distribution offers portability, savings, and,
ease-of-use

August 14, 2001-- San Francisco, Calif. And Mount Arlington, NJ --
Turbolinux, the leading provider of high performance Linux distributions,
today announced that it has created a tailor-made Linux package for The
Credit Index.  Based on the latest version of the Linux kernel, 2.4.5,
Turbolinux has developed the first commercially available kernel 2.4-based
distribution for IBM S/390 processors. 

The Credit Index is the nation's premier risk modeling company for the
direct response industry, which consists primarily of mail-order catalog
marketers.  The Credit Index customers rely on data from the firm that
details the credit worthiness of catalog customers and, until recently, the
company operated entirely on mainframe computers.   The Credit Index now
runs some of its applications on Intel-based Linux servers, however, most of
The Credit Index customers use mainframes and more than half the data the
firm receives comes on mainframe format tapes, including the 3490, which led
the company to investigate the idea of running Linux directly on its
mainframes.

"The roadblock we kept running into was that the versions of Linux available
for the mainframe could not even begin to support the enormous file sizes we
need," said Brian Eaddy, The Credit Index's senior vice president of
technology.  "Turbolinux stepped in to partner with us where other vendors
would not. Right from the beginning Turbolinux's developers took us
seriously, visiting us on site, looking at our environment, and trying to
understand our exact needs."

"This is another example of Turbolinux's focus on high-end computing,
offering customers true enterprise-class Linux solutions and support," said
CEO, Ly-Huong Pham. "Turbolinux was able to create a tailor-made product for
the Credit Index which allows them to unite client/server and mainframe
technologies through the power of Linux."

Installation from, and support of, 3490 tape drive
The Credit Index's customers routinely send files several gigabytes in size.
It was imperative that any Linux distribution running on the mainframe
support these large file sizes and the 3490 tape drive which can process up
to 3MB of data per second.  But, when The Credit Index went looking for a
solution, the versions of Linux that were available for the mainframe lacked
these key features. 

Turbolinux stepped in and developed a custom distribution on a tape, which
included support for large file sizes and LVM (Logical Volume Manager), and
even included the exact DASD and I/O addresses of the Credit Index
mainframe.

"Turbolinux's experience with Linux and mainframe technology - but even more
importantly, their commitment to our project - really paid off," said The
Credit Index's, Eaddy.  "The software we received from Turbolinux was fully
loaded.  We were able to just pop the tape in and bring up Linux."  

Cost-savings and portability
Running Linux on Intel-based servers as well as the mainframe has led to
greater than anticipated costs savings for the Credit Index because it has
become much easier for programmers to develop and test applications for the
mainframe.  Programmers can write and test applications on Linux servers and
then deploy them on the mainframe.

"Scheduling development time on the mainframe was a challenge," said Eaddy.
"Our developers had to work around production jobs which naturally take
priority.  The portability of Linux allows us to dramatically decrease the
time it takes to develop and deploy mainframe applications."

In addition, running Turbolinux on the mainframe lets The Credit Index take
advantage of a number of Linux applications already developed for the
mainframe, decreasing the amount the company had been paying to third-party
software developers.
About Turbolinux, Inc.

Founded in 1992, Turbolinux develops Linux-based software solutions for
Internet and enterprise computing infrastructure, including reliable,
available and scalable operating systems for workstations and servers and
software clustering solutions for computing traffic management and
peer-to-peer distributed computing. Backed by more than $95 million in
investments from some of the world's leading technology companies, including
Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell, Oracle, SGI and
Toshiba, Turbolinux is headquartered near San Francisco with offices around
the world. For more information, visit the Turbolinux Web site at
www.Turbolinux.com <http://www.Turbolinux.com>.

Turbolinux is a registered trademark of Turbolinux, Inc. Linux is a
registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other registered trademarks
belong to their respective holders.