Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 12:31:59 -0400
From: Greg Smith <gsmith@schwartz-pr.com>
To: <lwn@lwn.net>
Subject: Red Hat Releases IA-64 Linux Distribution for Developers



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information:
Melissa London					Bryan Scanlon or Maribel Lopez
Red Hat, Inc. (East)				Schwartz Communications for Red Hat
(919) 547-0012					(781) 684-0770
melissa@redhat.com				redhat@schwartz-pr.com


RED HAT RELEASES IA-64 LINUX DISTRIBUTION FOR DEVELOPERS

Alpha Release of Leading Linux Platform Available for the Intel® Itanium(TM)
Processor

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--May 17, 2000--Red Hat, Inc.
(NASDAQ:RHAT), the leader in open source Internet infrastructure solutions,
announced today the availability of an early release of the Red Hat source code for the
forthcoming Intel Itanium processor platform targeting high-end servers and
workstations. This distribution enables the development of IA-64 software for the most
intensive computing environments, from high performance design automation to
enterprise level databases. A free download version of the code can be obtained at
ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/ia64.

"Red Hat’s release of pre-production tools and software represents an important
milestone in the development of the IA-64 Linux platform," said Michael Pope, Intel’s
director of e-Business Solutions Marketing. "This release will enable the open source
Linux community to accelerate their development of advanced server and workstation
applications for Itanium processor based systems.’’

Intel recently announced the availability online of the Itanium Processor
Microarchitecture Reference, a guide for software developers that details the functional
behavior of Intel’s Itanium microprocessor. This guide, together with the Red Hat code
will enable developers to create programs that will be Red Hat/IA-64 ready before the
production release of the Itanium microprocessor.

"Commercial developers know that as the principle source of the GNU development tools
for both IA-32 and IA-64 Linux, (as well as for many proprietary operating systems), Red
Hat is positioned to help developers port and optimize their applications for IA-64
Linux," said Michael Tiemann, CTO, Red Hat, Inc. "We believe this will be especially
valuable to developers who want to extend their Linux-based offerings into high-end, 64-
bit enterprise and technical computing markets."

This pre-production version will include the Red Hat/Cygnus compiler and tool kit. It is
based on the tools and kernel developed by the Trillian project, a group of companies that
include Red Hat, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Caldera, CERN, SuSE, TurboLinux and
SGI. The full release of Red Hat’s offering will coincide with the IA-64 hardware
availability from Intel.

"We continue to work closely with Red Hat, Intel and our strategic independent software
vendors (ISVs) to speed development of 64-bit e-commerce solutions that are optimized
on Dell systems," said Bob Van Steenberg, vice president and general manager of
enterprise server products in Dell's Enterprise Systems Group. "As a world leader in
Internet commerce and infrastructure products, Dell is on track to be among the first to
deliver to its customers Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell Precision WorkStations based
on Intel's 64-bit Itanium processors."

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. IDC also states that Red Hat Linux is by far the most popular
distribution, preferred by 68.7 percent of U.S. Linux users.

Research firm Netcraft, Inc. (www.netcraft.com), states that as of April 2000, 33 percent
of all public Web sites run on Linux-based operating systems, making Linux the most
popular choice for deploying 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.

About Red Hat, Inc.

Founded in 1994, Red Hat (NASDAQ: RHAT) is the market leader in open source
Internet infrastructure solutions, 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.

Red Hat is based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. and has offices worldwide. Visit Red
Hat on the Web at www.redhat.com. For investor inquiries, contact Lippert/Heilshorn at
(212) 838-3777.

# # #

LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark of Red
Hat, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Forward-looking statements in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Investors are
cautioned that statements in this press release that are not strictly historical statements,
including, without limitation, management’s plans and objectives for future operations,
and management’s assessment of market factors, constitute forward-looking statements
which involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without
limitation, product plans and performance, the ability to continue to develop the Linux
kernel and other software, reliance upon strategic relationships, Red Hat’s dependence
upon an open source business model, reliance upon independent third-party Linux
developers, management of growth, expansion of Red Hat’s business focus and
operations, the possibility of undetected software errors, the enforceability of the GNU
General Public License and other licenses under which Red Hat’s products are developed
and licensed, the scarcity of Linux-based applications, the risks of economic downturns
generally, and in Red Hat’s industry specifically, the risks associated with competition
and competitive pricing pressures, the viability of the Internet, and other risks detailed in
Red Hat’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be
accessed through the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov.