Strategic Alliance Between Corel, KDE and Debian to Advance Development of a new Linus(r) Distribution
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--Corel on track to deliver easy-to-use Linux GUI and OS to consumers and OEMs this fall
Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: COSFF, TSE: COS) today announced an alliance with two major Open Source developer communities to advance the development of its proposed Linux(r) distribution; a user- friendly Linux installation and graphical user interface (GUI) for the desktop PC.
Corel and the K Desktop Environment (KDE) Project will be working together to enhance the KDE GUI for inclusion in the upcoming Corel version of Linux, aimed for the desktop user.
''Corel has chosen to work with KDE as our preferred desktop interface because we believe its development is further ahead than other offerings at this time,'' said Derek Burney, Corel's executive vice president of engineering. ''KDE can easily be configured to offer a strong Windows-like look and feel, which we see as being very important to our strategy of making all aspects of work in a Linux environment compatible with present-day Windows offerings.
''Corel will also be releasing all its improvements and development on open source software to the Open Source community,'' said Mr. Burney. ''The developers in that community are the strength of Linux, and with our recent work and contributions to the WINE project, Corel strongly supports their efforts.''
''Our project's continuous dedication to create an attractive, stable and functional desktop environment and Corel's experience in building state-of-the-art graphical interfaces will help offer users an even better experience with the award-winning KDE,'' said Cristian Tibirna, KDE's representative in Canada. ''We're all very excited about the new prospects.''
Corel will also build its desktop Linux offering around the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, which already has one of the largest installed bases in the Linux community, and is known for its stability and security.
''Debian has already made significant strides toward Linux on the desktop, so this is a natural partnership,'' said Erich Forler, Corel's Linux product manager. ''The Linux community has also recognized that Debian's Linux distribution is built around extremely clean code, and their commitment to documentation within their code, and for the applications, makes Open Source development more efficient and organized.''
''I am very happy to see Corel taking this step into the Open Source world and cooperating with non-commercial organizations such as Debian and KDE,'' said Wichert Akkerman, Debian's project leader. ''By combining Debian's strengths, which include having a large number of developers, a very open development model and a public bug tracking system, with the experience Corel has with making office and desktop products, I think we will be able to produce an outstanding system with the best of both worlds.''
With a recent strategic alliance with Cygnus, which will provide Cygnus GNUPro software technology to enable Corel to move its market-leading productivity applications to Linux, Corel is firmly on track to deliver its proposed Linux distribution to the market by the fall. This will be in advance of its WordPerfect(r) Office 2000 for Linux productivity suite and CorelDRAW(r) 9 for Linux graphics application in the fourth quarter and beginning of 2000 respectively.
The strength and popularity of Linux is growing steadily, everyday. International Data Corporation (IDC) recently announced that through 2003, total Linux commercial shipments will grow faster than the total shipments of all other IDC covered client or server operating environments. IDC estimates that Linux commercial shipments will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 percent from 1999 through 2003, compared with a 10 percent CAGR for all other client operating environments combined and a 12 percent CAGR for all other server operating environments combined.
Corel Corporation
Corel Corporation is an internationally recognized developer of award-winning graphics and business productivity applications. Development of market-leading products such as the CorelDRAW(r) line of graphics applications and the Corel(r) WordPerfect(r) Suite of business tools is continually evolving to meet the demands of the corporate, retail and academic markets. Committed to performance, compatibility, value and open standards, Corel develops products for the Windows(r), Macintosh(r), UNIX(r), Linux(r) and Java(tm) platforms. Corel's common stock trades on The NASDAQ Stock Market(sm) under the symbol COSFF and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS. For more information visit Corel's Web site at www.corel.com.
KDE Information
The K Desktop Environment is a non-commercial, international, Internet-based project which develops the freely-available graphical desktop environment for the UNIX(r) and Linux(r) platforms. The completely new Internet-enabled desktop, incorporating a large suite of applications for UNIX workstations, currently supports more than 30 languages. The strength of this exceptional environment lies in the interoperability of its components and the functionality of its applications. For more information about KDE and its technology, please visit the web site at [www.kde.org], or contact press@kde.org.
Debian GNU/Linux
Debian GNU/Linux is a free, or Open Source, operating system (OS) for your computer. Debian is a project of Software in the Public Interest Inc. (SPI). SPI is a non-profit organization which was founded to help organizations develop and distribute open hardware and software. SPI encourages programmers to use the GNU General Public License or other licenses that allow free redistribution of software, and hardware developers to distribute documentation that will allow device drivers to be written for their product. Open Source is a trademark of SPI. Open Source is managed by the Open Source Initiative, which manages the [www.opensource.org] resources, to develop branding programs attractive to software customers and producers, and to advance the cause of Open Source software. For more information about Debian and its technology, please contact press@debian.org, or visit its web site at debian.org
Corel, Corel Print House and the Go Further logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation or Corel Corporation Limited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Debian is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest.
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Contact:
Corel Corporation
Judith O'Brien
Press Contact
(613) 728-0826 ext. 5405
E-Mail: juditho@corel.ca
Web Site: www.corel.com
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