Red Hat Announces Open Source Assurance to Safeguard Customer Investment

Program features warranty to guarantee customers the right to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux without interruption.

RALEIGH, NC—JAN. 20, 2004—Today, Red Hat, Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions to the enterprise, announced that all existing and future Red Hat Enterprise Linux customers are now covered under the Open Source Assurance program. Red Hat designed the Open Source Assurance program to provide customers a guarantee that their investment in open source solutions from Red Hat will generate long-term economic value. The announcement of this program confirms Red Hat's unwavering commitment to its customers and open source.

A key feature of the Open Source Assurance Program is an Intellectual Property Warranty. The warranty ensures, that in the event that an infringement issue is identified in Red Hat Enterprise Linux software code, Red Hat will replace the infringing code. Red Hat's warranty assures customers that they can use Red Hat Enterprise Linux and related solutions without interruption. The warranty is available for all customers having a valid registered subscription to Red Hat Enterprise Linux or related solutions.

"Enterprise platform deployments are key investments that should be protected. Red Hat customers have the security of a trusted partner to guarantee a resolution should there be an issue for continued use." said Bryan Sims, vice president of Business Development at Red Hat. "We have provided this guarantee to many of our large enterprise customers and we are now extending this guarantee to all customers who use Red Hat Enterprise Linux."

The Open Source Now Fund is also a feature of the Open Source Assurance program. The Fund was created by Red Hat in August to assist companies with any legal expenses associated with litigation related to the development of software under the GPL or other open source license and to prepare educational materials related to such software and litigation.

More information on the Open Source Assurance Program and its featured benefits are available at http://www.redhat.com/software/assurance/faq.html. Customers may also write to Legal Affairs, 1801 Varsity Drive Raleigh, NC 27606.

About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world's premier open source and Linux provider. Red Hat is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. and has offices worldwide. Please visit Red Hat on the Web at http://www.redhat.com/index.html.

Forward-Looking Statements
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