VA Research Buys Two Linux Companies

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April 27, 1999 (12:00 AM EDT)

VA Research Linux Systems, which made itsname selling Linux boxes, has bought two of its competitors: Linux Hardware Solutions, in Wilmington, N.C., and Enlightened Solutions, in Atlanta.

Terms were not disclosed.

Larry Augustin, president of VA, said the company will reorganize into three groups, VA Linux Systems, which will build and sell machines and support them; VA Linux Labs, a facility dedicated to enhancing and growing the open source code operating system; and Linux.com, a soon-to-debut portal.

Augustin first got into Linux as a Stanford University student who wanted a Unix box at home but who could not afford a $7,000 Sparc machine. As such, he is understandably bullish on the OS. That first machine ran one-and-a-half to two times faster than a Sparc machine and cost one-third to one-quarter as much, he said.

Now, Augustin predicts Linux, which is freely available off the Internet or from several distributors including Red Hat Software and Caldera Systems, will outsell megalith Windows NT by the end of this year. He said it is already the No. 1 OS for ISPs.

There are still soft spots for Linux, however. For example, there are no name-brand desktop productivity applications available for it yet, though Lotus is considering a port of SmartSuite. But as one reseller said, "Where is Office for Linux?"

Some sources said there are factions within Microsoft that propose making a Linux version of Office, but there is little belief that the company would dilute its Windows focus to do that.

Augustin himself uses StarOffice or ApplixWare, both productivity suites for Linux.

He and other Linux stalwarts said one of the biggest factors playing into Linux momentum is programmers and developers have always loved the Unix model, "but there was no affordable Unix on a widely available platform."

"There was a huge void, and nothing filled it. People were going to NT because the Unix vendors [offered only] servers for over $2,000," he said.