Oracle, Red Hat, Dell team up on Linux project

PALO ALTO: Dell Computer Corp., Oracle Corp. and Red Hat Inc. on Wednesday

said they had teamed up to help large corporations run more of their business

software on Linux, a low-cost operating system.

Under the technology companies' partnership agreement, Dell has certified and

bundled Red Hat's new Linux Advanced Server software -- its first version for

large corporations -- and the latest version of Oracle's 9i database software on

its PowerEdge servers.

That Dell product is currently available. Pricing starts at $11,900. The

companies' announcement comes as large corporations look for ways to save money

on technology. Running a nonproprietary Linux operating system is seen by some

corporations as one way to do that. "Over the last six months, we have seen

a significant increase in Linux interest from our corporate customers,"

said Russ Holt, vice president of Dell's Enterprise Systems Group.

On other fronts, Hewlett-Packard Co. said it would ship a certified

configuration of the new Red Hat and Oracle offerings on its ProLiant DL580

servers this summer. Oracle's latest database software includes a feature called

"clustering," which enables users to tie servers together, rather than

replacing that hardware with bigger, more expensive boxes.

Shares of Dell, the world's No. 2 personal computer maker, finished the

regular Nasdaq session down 7 cents at $26.86. Database software giant Oracle

saw its stock land at $8.66, up about 11 per cent, while Red Hat shares were up

nearly 3 per cent at $5.

Shares in HP -- which earlier this year became the No. 1 personal computer

maker through its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. -- finished down about 1

per cent at $18.79.

(C) Reuters Limited.