To: Kevin who wrote (135 ) 1/31/2000 7:56:00 AM From: Glenn Petersen Respond to of 160
ANDN upgrades its corporate services program:wired.com The Penguin Has Landed by Michelle Finley 3:00 a.m. 31.Jan.2000 PST Andover.Net, the owner of several key Internet sites for Linux and open source project developers, has launched a lineup of new services aimed specifically at enterprise users. The announcement of Andover.Net's new corporate services program was made in conjunction with the company's acquisition of QuestionExchange, the leading online technical support site for Linux and open source users. The fee-based support service allows users to post problems to a group of open source experts. Once the problem is solved, all the information gained during the process becomes part of the site's knowledge base, which is accessible to all QuestionExchange customers. Bruce Twickler, president and CEO of Andover.Net, said QuestionExchange would be the first of many offerings in the company's new enterprise services initiative. Andover.Net also plans to provide technical consulting services to corporations that are just beginning to use Linux. The company also plans to expand Freshmeat.net, the largest Internet site for open source programmer resources and projects. The site will offer new features to developers that will facilitate the construction, promotion, and distribution of open source projects to enterprise clients. Another new service will notify registered users about the latest projects, upgrades, and patches available on Freshmeat. Users of these projects will then be able to receive rollout and technical support via QuestionExchange, says Twickler. Andover.Net will also be releasing Slashcode, the engine for Slashdot, an active news and discussion site for Linux users. "Slashcode is an excellent tool that corporations can use to communicate with their own communities of customers and affiliates," Twickler said. Slashcode will be actively supported by Andover.Net, which will offer management, development, and consulting services to corporate users of the product.