After Red Hat announced that it was acquiring security and authentication tools from Netscape Security Solutions to bolster its software arsenal (see story), Red Hat Inc. CEO and Chairman Matthew Szulik spoke with Computerworld senior reporter Todd R. Weiss about the future strategy of the Raleigh, N.C.-based Linux vendor.
Why did Red Hat buy Netscape Directory Server and Netscape Certificate Management System from America Online Inc."s Netscape division?
One year ago, we rolled out a statement of direction for Red Hat Linux. By adding a logical volume manager, cluster file system [and other parts], we have been building on that successfully. A piece of the architecture that we felt was critical to finish was the area around directory services.
It"s critically important to have them be open and not tied to any specific vendor"s API [application programming interface] or protocols. This acquisition continues Red Hat"s drive to make our products open and vendor-neutral.