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Press Release
Openlink Uses Mono to Enable Cross Platform Integration of .NET
  • Early Mono Adoption Demonstrates Powerful Use of Open Source Implementation of .NET Runtime and Frameworks beyond Windows

BOSTON, MA — November 25, 2002: Ximian, Inc., the leading open source desktop company, today announced that OpenLink Software, Inc., an industry leader in the development and deployment of secure, high-performance Universal Data Access and Web Services middleware, is using Mono™ as part of the development efforts for Virtuoso 3.0, its latest Universal Server release. Mono enables OpenLink Virtuoso to provide a consistent .NET common language runtime (CLR) and frameworks integration implementation across Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and UNIX. The OpenLink effort demonstrates platform-independent web services creation using any .NET-bound language, web services hosting, ASP.NET application invocation without IIS, and ADO.NET based data access. OpenLink's adoption represents one of the first commercial uses of the Mono Project, a community initiative launched by Ximian™ to develop an open source version of the Microsoft .NET development platform for Linux and UNIX.

With OpenLink Virtuoso 3.0, companies will be able to create XML web services, user-defined types, stored procedures, functions and triggers using any .NET bound language on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and a variety of UNIX platforms. As a result, customers will be able to cost-effectively exploit the value propositions of web services, XML, and universal data access in general. With the help of Mono, OpenLink's vision of maximum incorporation of new technologies and paradigms with minimum disruption to existing IS infrastructures remains a reality.

"Our goal at OpenLink is to consistently offer our customers freedom of choice in line with adoption and implementation of new paradigms and technologies," said Kingsley Idehen, President and CEO of OpenLink. "Mono has enabled us to add .NET integration to Virtuoso 3.0 without compromising one of its fundamental benefits, which is platform, language, and database independence."

OpenLink's adoption is the latest in a series of milestones for the Mono Project. In July, the O'Reilly Open Source Convention featured demonstrations on Linux of a self-hosting C# (pronounced C-sharp) compiler, CLR, and web applications utilizing Microsoft.NET components, including ASP.NET and ADO.NET. More than 100 developers from around the world currently contribute to the project, and as part of its development efforts, OpenLink is now contributing actively.

"While the Mono Project is not complete, companies such as OpenLink are already seeing benefit in the technologies and tools developed by the Mono Project," said Miguel de Icaza, CTO of Ximian and leader of the Mono Project. "I am very proud that Mono is well on its way to realizing its two key objectives-dramatically enhancing developer productivity while enabling a choice of platforms for building and deploying .NET compatible applications."

The Mono Project is scheduled for completion next year. For more information about Mono, visit the Ximian web site at www.ximian.com/mono or the Mono Project web site at www.mono-project.com. Developer information, including release notes, software builds, source code and testing status, is available at the Mono Project site.

About OpenLink Software, Inc.
OpenLink Software is a privately held software company with offices in the U.S.A., United Kingdom, France, Malaysia, Nigeria and Bulgaria. It is a market leading technology innovator in the universal data access drivers market for ODBC and JDBC. The company has recently extended its technology prowess into the realms of Virtual Databases, Native XML Data Storage, and XML Web Services through its Virtuoso Universal Server product set. Its products are currently used by over 10,000 companies worldwide. Additional information on OpenLink Software can be obtained from the web site, www.openlinksw.com.

About Ximian, Inc.
Ximian is the established leader in providing open source desktop technology, applications, support and services for the Linux and UNIX marketplaces. Ximian products, in use by over 1,000,000 people worldwide, are providing the ease of use, productivity and interoperability needed to propel the adoption of the Linux desktop in corporate computing environments. Its Ximian Desktop software, based on the open source GNOME project, provides a complete graphical desktop environment and productivity application suite for Linux and UNIX systems. Ximian Red Carpet™ and Ximian Evolution™ deliver software and personal information management solutions for both end users and corporate customers. Comprised of many of the original architects of the GNOME system, Ximian is a founding member of the GNOME Foundation and sits on the advisory board. The company has secured funding from leading venture firms Charles River Ventures and Battery Ventures and can be reached at www.ximian.com.

Press Contact:
Kevan Barney
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 861-2931
E-mail: kbarney@novell.com

Ximian, Mono, Ximian Evolution and Red Carpet are trademarks of Ximian, Inc. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.