Today we are pleased to announce that PC/OpenSystems LLC is partnering with Red Hat Software to provide Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and upon availability, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 to customers. The Red Hat versions we will provide include:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server for IBM Power
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server for IBM System/Z
Red Hat Enterprise Linux will be made available upon request on all professional hardware that is supplied by PC/OpenSystems LLC.
Roberto J. Dohnert, founder and CEO of PC/OpenSystems LLC sat down with us for a short Q&A regarding this new partnership.
Q) What does this new partnership mean for users of Black Lab Linux?
A) With Red Hat Enterprise Server, we will be providing both the best of breed Linux distribution for servers, as well as best of breed Linux desktop technologies with Black Lab Linux and Black Lab Enterprise Desktop. This partnership also allows the Black Lab development team to focus on the one thing that we have proven unwavering ability, desktop Linux. While customers who want to use Black Lab Linux and Black Lab Enterprise Desktop for server functions such as file and print, web server, application server and cluster nodes will continue to be able to do so. Those who want the advanced server functionality that Red Hat Linux provides will be able to utilize these services.
Q) What about users who use Black Lab Server?
A) We will continue to provide those users only with new releases, updates and functionality. For our customers who use Black Lab Server for Kiosks and specialty functions like that we will migrate them over to Black Lab Embedded MR5.0 and for those customers that love to build their own servers, if they dont want to use Red Hat Linux, they can use Black Lab Embedded and build a custom server using the Expansion Kits that we provide.
Q) I see we provide Red Hat for IBM POWER and IBM System/Z? Will we offer Black Lab Enterprise Desktop for IBM POWER?
A) We do offer Black Lab Enterprise Desktop on IBM POWER series systems through support contracts and the custom configuration option. We dont make it available as a general release because there simply is not enough demand for it. PowerPC on the home desktop is generally a novelty and mostly used by hobbyists and not a mainstream platform that people wish to use. With that low a userbase, maybe a couple of hundred users at the most, we couldnt deliver it at a price point thats beneficial for us and them. Now, on Enterprise systems, such as embedded, server and supercomputer, PowerPC is used a lot and with Black Lab Linux and now Red Hat Enterprise Server for IBM POWER, we can offer the Enterprise users a complete package. Red Hat for the server, and Black Lab Linux if they happen to still use a few PowerPC based Macs or if they utilize a couple of server systems as desktops.
Q) When will RHELS become available and how much will it be?
A) Its available today, obviously the price will be determinant on the number of licenses you need. You can contact sales@pc-opensystems.com to discuss it. We will also add Red Hat to our support contracts and customers can use us or Red Hat for support.
