Ximian watches over Linux software

Linux software maker Ximian last week released a new version of its Red Carpet software management tool, which corporate customers can use to more easily deploy updates and security patches for Linux desktop and server software.

BOSTON – Linux software maker Ximian last week released a new version of its Red Carpet software management tool, which corporate customers can use to more easily deploy updates and security patches for Linux desktop and server software.

Called Red Carpet Enterprise, the product is the latest generation of Ximian’s software for delivering updates and fixes to multiple servers and workstations. Red Carpet is available as a Web-based service for corporate customers, called Red Carpet Corporate Connect, and one for individual Linux users, called Red Carpet Express. Both let users download patches and version upgrades from servers hosted by the company.

With the corporate version of Red Carpet, customers can install the software management tool on their own servers, says Jon Perr, vice president of marketing for Ximian. Users also can manage the process using a command-line interface in addition to the Web-based console available for existing versions of the tool.

Also new to the product, customers can manage version and security updates for custom Linux software developed by individual users, in addition to generally available software products already managed with the tool. Those include versions of the Linux operating system from Red Hat, MandrakeSoft, SuSE Linux, and the open source project Debian.

All versions of Red Carpet also include “channels” where users can get updates to third-party Linux software, such as Opera Software ASA’s Web browser, Sun’s StarOffice desktop suite and Ximian’s Evolution e-mail and calendaring software.

Amerada Hess, an oil and gas company in Houston, uses Red Carpet Corporate Connect to manage software updates for 300 Red Hat Linux servers deployed in one of its U.S. divisions. Jeff Davis, senior systems programmer with Amerada Hess, says he has tested Ximian’s new server-based product and plans to roll it out in place of the current service next year.

“It works just like Corporate Connect. The only difference is that since the box is inside the firewall it’s under [my] control,” he says.

With control over the server, Davis says he can deploy hundreds of fixes at one time, whereas the version he has now requires him to schedule updates one at a time.

Similar tools are available from other companies. Red Hat offers a tool called Red Hat Network that lets its users keep current with security patches and updates. However, few tools let users manage updates for products from multiple vendors through a single interface.

Red Carpet Enterprise will cost $2,500 for the server software component and $200 for each server or workstation that is maintained with the software tool. Volume pricing will be available, the company says.

Berger is a correspondent with the IDG News Service’s San Francisco bureau.