Government tips hat to Red Hat

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: Mike Gauthier <mike () a-and-m net>

http://news.com.com/2117-1001-984202.htm

[Wow.  I wasn't expecting this! - MikeG]

By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 11, 2003

Red Hat's high-end version of Linux has received a certification that
clears the way for broader use of the operating system in government.

Red Hat's Advanced Server version received the Defense Department's
Common Operating Environment (COE) certification running on an
Intel-based IBM server, the first version of Linux to pass the
milestone. Red Hat is trying to coax customers to move as quickly as
possible from its less-expensive products to the better-supported
Advanced Server version.

The COE effort began in 1993 as a way to build specific features and
interface characteristics into several different operating systems.
The initiative makes it easier to get military software running on the
wide variety of computer systems in use today and to train people to
use the systems.

The certification bolsters Red Hat's Advanced Server product, a
higher-end version of its operating system that costs more money and
that comes with a subscription to the Red Hat Network management and
update service. The Raleigh, N.C.-based company is aggressively
pushing customers as well as hardware and software partners to the
Advanced Server product.

Separately, the Cyber Security Policy and Research Institute is
working on obtaining certification for Linux under a separate
government program called Common Criteria.

With the move, database software maker Oracle will begin trying to get
its 9i RAC database software an approved part of the COE software
world, the company said in a statement.

Sun Microsystems achieved the certification with its Solaris 8 version
of the Unix operating system in September. IBM's AIX, another version
of Unix, is certified, as are Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX and Microsoft's
Windows NT.



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