Cygnus buy fits Red Hat model

Offering resellers a wider sales portfolio of Linux products, Red Hat has widened its brim with the acquisition of GNU compiler and embedded Open Source software company Cygnus for about $674m (£421m) in stock.

Offering resellers a wider sales portfolio of Linux products, Red Hat has widened its brim with the acquisition of GNU compiler and embedded Open Source software company Cygnus for about $674m (£421m) in stock.

Red Hat has also appointed Matthew Szulik as its chief executive. He will succeed Bob Young who has been promoted to chairman.

Speaking at Linux Business Expo, an offshoot of the Comdex show in Las Vegas, Young said the crucial applications in the 21st century will be in the internet appliance sector. "People want solutions, not technology, and these will be Palm Pilots that will connect to the internet, rather than PCs," he said.

The Cygnus merger will add embedded technology for secure internet appliances, GNU compiler code and real-time technology to Red Hat products. "It will take a lot of work to integrate Cygnus technology with Red Hat, but it's an important part of the future," said Young.

Young also denied that struggling Linux developer Inprise would have been a better buy for the company.