Red Hat’s JBoss division was already involved in the project, which goes by the name of Open Platform for User-Centric Service Creation and Execution, OPUCE. It is designed to create a platform for the dynamic creation and delivery of user services and software.
Raleigh, North Carolina-based Red Hat will focus on how its Enterprise Linux and java Enterprise Middleware offerings can create an open source element to that platform, and will also offer expertise on building open source communities.
We have built a team that’s dedicated to telecoms, said Tim Yeaton, senior VP of worldwide marketing and general manager of Red Hat’s product division. We want to rally the open source ecosystem in support of the OPUCE project.
Yeaton added that Red Hat sees telecoms as a key market opportunity as Linux and open source adoption expands beyond early adopters such as financial services. All these next generation delivery services are driving infrastructure build-out and they see the advantage of open source, he said.
Citing his earlier experience at DEC and Compaq, Yeaton noted the large Unix installed base in the telecoms market and predicted the wave of adoption that saw Unix prove itself in this market will happen again with Linux. I think there’s very likely to be the same global shift we’ll see over the next few years, he said.
Yeaton also revealed that the company will return to the embedded Linux market with the release of Enterprise Linux 5.0 in the first quarter of 2007. The company currently offers embedded Linux functionality via its services business following a 2004 partnership with Wind River Systems Inc.
That partnership saw the companies teaming up on an embedded Linux platform for the device software optimization market, but RHEL 5.0 will see Red Hat deliver a more flexible offering that can be tailored for different usage cases, said Yeaton.
