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H-P to Increase Support
Of Open-Source Software

By PUI-WING TAM
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 31, 2004

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108596777560124829,00.html?mod=COMPANY


Hewlett-Packard Co., one of the biggest backers of the Linux operating system, said it will increase its backing of "open-source" software by being the first large technology company to certify and support programs made by MySQL AB and JBoss Inc.

The move by H-P, Palo Alto, Calif., is intended as a competitive strike against rival International Business Machines Corp., which sells its own stack of proprietary "middleware" software. By adding open-source programs from MySQL and JBoss to its offerings, which also include middleware programs from Oracle Corp. and BEA Systems Inc., H-P says it is giving customers more software choices.

Using these new offerings, "we'll push hard against IBM's 'blue stack' of software, said Martin Fink, H-P's vice president of Linux. He said H-P won't push the "open-source" software ahead of products by Oracle and BEA, however.

Open-source programs, which are often available in free or inexpensive versions, give users access to programming instructions that are kept secret in most commercial products. Such products have been growing quickly as H-P, IBM and other big companies have offered technical support, testing and other services. Over the past few years, for example, the Linux platform has become a primary competitor to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system, especially on hardware such as server computers.

MySQL competes with Oracle and others with an open-source database system, a kind of universal filing cabinet and a foundation for writing other programs. JBoss offers technology to run software applications over the Web, in competition with BEA, IBM and others.

Write to Pui-Wing Tam at [e-mail]