VA Linux Unveils Linux.com

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May 18, 1999 (12:00 AM EDT)

VA Linux Systems Tuesday launched Linux.com, a site for Linux proponents and users.

The site itself will be "by the people," according to a posting there and will be staffed by volunteers from the Linux world. While it officially went live Tuesday, the company says the site, even under construction, drew 100,000 hits per day.

According to a statement, VA Linux Systems won the Linux.com domain name, despite competition from such industry giants as Compaq Computer and Microsoft. VA Linux Systems executives could not be reached for comment.

VA Linux Systems, a privately held company, builds Intel-based servers running either Red Hat or public domain Linux. It recently bought Linux Hardware Solutions, in Wilmington, N.C. and Enlightened Solutions, in Atlanta, for undisclosed terms.

VA president Larry Augustin has been a vocal proponent of the open source movement, joining with other adherents to challenge Microsoft to open up its Windows and other code. Augustin even predicts that the Linux variant of Unix, will outsell Windows NT by the end of this year.

The website will be run by an advisory board including two VA Research people, and also Rob Malda, publisher of Slashdot, Kurt Akeley, a vice president at Silicon Graphics, and Doug Kennedy, vice president of Oracle.

While the site is currently live, it does not contain a lot of information.