Linuxcare and E-Commerce Go ‘Windward’

Technical services and support provider Linuxcare, Inc. has struck a strategic alliance with e-commerce consulting firm Windward Consulting Group, Inc. to push Linux-based solutions to application, Internet and telecommunications service providers.

Under the terms of agreement, Linuxcare will provide product certification, professional services, technical support, and training for Linux client environments.

“We chose to partner with Linuxcare because they are the strongest provider of Linux services and will strengthen Windward’s ability to offer Linux-based, custom e-commerce solutions,” commented Sean McDermott, president of Windward.

Additionally, Windward will provide infrastructure support, and both companies will jointly work on managing business client migration to Linux.

About Linuxcare

In December 1999, Linuxcare announced that it completed a second round of funding, with some $32.5 (US$) million in backing from industry mainstays Dell Computer Corp., Motorola, Inc., Oracle Corp., and Sun Microsystems. According to Linuxcare, the funds were applied to expand IT capabilities, and pump up its sales structure and marketing programs, domestically and internationally.

Linuxcare has also jumped into the Lucrative Linux IPO game, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “LXCR.”

The San Francisco, California-based Linuxcare, which recently won a new contract with Hewlett-Packard, is a provider of customer services for enterprise Linux environments, including technical support, professional services, education and product certification.

A Linux Happening

In other Linux-related news, business software solutions provider SuSE and IntraLinux, Inc. are teaming up to distribute free CD copies of SuSE Linux 6.3, along with Linux promotional materials and educational information at the Microsoft Windows 2000 launch at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

The happening is part of the larger Linux Demo Day, an international event to help promote the open-source OS, and will additionally feature such entertainment as a boxing match between a Bill Gates look-alike and a giant penguin.

About Linux

Linux is a UNIX-based operating system that has been developed by way of an online, open development model through the efforts of an international army of programmers. International Data Corp. recently released figures indicating that Linux has grabbed the number two spot in world OS sales behind Windows NT, with 5.4 million copies sold in 1999.