PROVO — Novell Inc. strengthened its links to the Linux operating system on Monday by acquiring privately held Ximian.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Provo-based Novell said in a press release that it was an all-cash transaction.
Boston-based Ximian, founded in 1999, has more than a million users worldwide of its Linux desktop and management products.
Novell said it will carry forward two of Ximian's key market initiatives involving Linux, which is a computer operating system that is available free for copying and modification. The GNOME project, started by Ximian co-founder Miguel de Icaza in 1997, is designed to develop a full-featured Linux desktop. The Mono project is designed to allow applications developed using Microsoft's .NET to run on Linux, Unix, Windows and other platforms.
In addition to expanding Novell's ability to support Linux, a company press release said, the purchase brings "several of the open source community's leading visionaries to the Novell team and a strong core of Linux developers into the Novell fold."
Among those new team members are David Patrick, Ximian president and chief executive officer, who is now general manager of the Novell Ximian Services business unit; Nat Friedman, Ximian co-founder and senior vice president, who is now vice president of research and development for the new Novell unit; and de Icaza, Ximian's chief technology officer, who is now CTO for the Novell unit.
Jack Messman, Novell's chairman and CEO, said the acquisition will help both his company and customers of the Linux platform.
"Customers still face two key business issues: how to provide cost-effective management and maintenance of Linux systems, and how to deploy and support low-cost Linux desktops within the organization," Messman said in a prepared statement. "Novell now delivers market-leading solutions for both.
"Just as important, Ximian brings Novell unparalleled Linux expertise, helping us not only deliver more value to customers, but also strengthening our ability to work with and leverage open source initiatives more constructively."
Friedman said the combination could make Novell "the No. 1 Linux solutions company."
"It's a huge step forward for the open source community to gain strong support from a company like Novell," de Icaza said. "Initiatives like GNOME and Mono will only improve with Novell's resources behind them."
Novell stock rose modestly on news of the Ximian deal, closing Monday up 3 cents at $3.61 per share. In the past year, the price has ranged from $1.57 to $3.99.
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