AOL in talks to buy Red Hat

WASHINGTON: Media and Internet titan AOL Time Warner Inc. is in negotiations

to acquire Red Hat Inc., a distributor of the alternative computer operating

system Linux, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified sources

familiar with the matter.

The talks were fluid and it was unclear how much AOL, which runs the biggest

US Internet service provider and the second-largest US cable television system,

would pay for Red Hat, the newspaper said.

Red Hat is the leading distributor of Linux, which unlike software such as

rival Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system, is an "open source"

platform that anyone can change to suit their needs. Spokespeople for the three

companies declined to comment on the negotiations, the newspaper reported.

Linux has gained growing favor with businesses, especially to power the

heavy-duty server computers that dish up Web pages and run corporate networks.

The attempted acquisition is the latest indication that AOL is seeking

alternative software to that made by rival Microsoft, the maker of Windows which

runs 90 per cent of the world's personal computers, the Washington Post said.

To counter Microsoft, AOL could couple its Internet service with Red Hat's

operating system technology and could be configured to override Windows while

launching a version of Linux, sources told the newspaper.

(C) Reuters Limited.