Netline Contributes Open-XCHANGE Collaboration Tool to the General Public License

At LinuxWorld Expo San Francisco, Netline Internet Service announced that it would contribute its OPEN-XCHANGE(TM) Server under the GNU General Public License (GPL) -- giving customers and partners the ability to download the code for free as well as to contribute to the project.

OPEN-XCHANGE(TM), which is used in Novell's SUSE LINUX Openexchange Server, is a modular, standards-based communications tool that provides businesses with flexible groupware functions including e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and real-time document storage.

"OPEN-XCHANGE(TM) is built with open source components -- making the source code available under the GPL was clearly the most logical next-step in its evolution," said Frank Hoberg, chief executive officer, Netline Internet Service. "As demand for an open communications product increases, the open source community will help greatly accelerate innovation."

"The GPL release of OPEN-XCHANGE(TM) is good for customers and developers," said Ed Anderson, vice president of product marketing for Novell's Nterprise platform services group. "Novell has been a leader in collaboration for many years, and we recognize the value of open source in the rapid development of software and its responsiveness to users' needs. That value is now part of SUSE LINUX Openexchange Server as it brings collaboration stability and affordability to customers using Linux."

The open source version of OPEN-XCHANGE(TM) will be available free by download at www.open-xchange.org and www.openexchange.com by the end of August and will feature most of the award-winning attributes of the commercial product, but without support and maintenance, third-party applications and connectors.

Please read the full press announcement at www.open-xchange.org.

For information on SUSE LINUX Openexchange Server, please click here.