SUSE Linux Joins ObjectWeb

October 28, 2003


SUSE Linux joins the ObjectWeb consortium to embrace industrial-grade open-source middleware in its enterprise strategy

Frankfurt, Germany

ObjectWeb, the international consortium focused on open-source middleware, and SUSE Linux today announced that SUSE Linux has joined ObjectWeb - bringing SUSE customers an enterprise-ready open-source middleware alternative.

Earlier this year, SUSE Linux became a Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) source licensee, acquiring the right to distribute Sun's Java Virtual Machine (JVM). As an ObjectWeb corporate member, SUSE Linux will gain privileged access to the community of developers of many middleware components and platforms, including JOnAS - a Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) server, and Enhydra - another Java application server distributed by ObjectWeb.

"The first milestone of our initiative is to provide a version of a true open-source web application server on SUSE Linux, supporting users who wish to deploy a full open-source stack as well as those who prefer a mix of proprietary and open-source software," said Juergen Geck, SUSE's Chief Technology Officer. "Open-source is about choice, about flexibility, and we believe that this choice will benefit to the industry".

Distributed under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL) by ObjectWeb, JOnAS implements the functionality set forth in J2EE and has proven itself in production environment. JOnAS comes with free documentation and examples. This makes it the only true non-profit open-source application server to provide the J2EE 1.3 functionality - with already some features anticipating J2EE 1.4.

"SUSE's choice of joining ObjectWeb is an illustration of the company's genuine commitment to playing an active role in the development of open-source middleware on the long term. We really appreciate it and we are honored to welcome SUSE Linux as a new member," explained Christophe Ney, President of ObjectWeb's Executive Committee.

SUSE Linux will bring to its customers an enterprise-ready middleware alternative. The involvement of this new member is expected to foster the adoption of ObjectWeb components in the industrial world.

About ObjectWeb

Founded by Bull, France Telecom and INRIA, ObjectWeb is a worldwide consortium of leading enterprises and research organizations that have joined efforts to produce next generation open-source Middleware. ObjectWeb's goal is to bring to Real-Time Enterprise independence, quality, and robustness with the best performance/cost ratio that it requires. ObjectWeb targets alternative solutions to proprietary products addressing e-business, EAI, data connectivity, grid computing, and enterprise messaging. Based on Open Standards, ObjectWeb's middleware includes application servers, components, frameworks and tools. Examples of ObjectWeb's "cost killer" middleware are JOnAS - an open-source implementation of J2EE specification, JORAM JMS - a Message Oriented Middleware and Enhydra - Java/XML Application Server. ObjectWeb is hosted by INRIA. To learn more about ObjectWeb, visit http://www.objectweb.org.

About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell® Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell is firmly committed to open source and offers comprehensive Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

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