WALTHAM, Mass. — April 28, 2004 — Novell today announced its soon-to-ship SUSE Linux 9.1 conforms to the Free Standards Group's LSB Runtime Environment for IA32 product standard, demonstrating adherence to the community-developed standard for Linux-based systems.

Linux Standard Base (LSB), a workgroup of the Free Standards Group, standardizes the core functionality of Linux and the suite of GNU tools, giving Linux distributions and Linux-based applications the opportunity to reach a wider market, while allowing application developers to concentrate on increased functionality. LSB was developed through the collaboration of community developers, Linux distribution companies, independent software vendors (ISVs) and system vendors.

As an active member of the LSB, Novell's SUSE Linux business unit meets business customers' demands for standardized, technical open source software features. Standardization considerably simplifies the compatibility efforts of independent software and hardware vendors, and the availability of standardized, quality-assured IT solutions assures customers both stability and future interoperability while encouraging the further adoption of SUSE Linux in the enterprise.

Additional information on LSB certifications can be found at http://www.opengroup.org/lsb/cert. For more on Novell's Linux strategy and offerings, visit http://www.novell.com/linux.

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