Red Hat and Dell Extend Strategic Alliance

Research Triangle Park—Dec. 6, 1999—Red Hat®, Inc. (NASDAQ: RHAT), the leading provider of open source solutions, and Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: DELL), the world's leading direct computer systems company and a leading provider of servers for the Internet infrastructure, today extended their strategic alliance with a worldwide service and support agreement and a commitment from Dell to factory-install Red Hat Linux on all future and currently shipping Dell® PowerEdge® server models.

Dell, the number No.2 PC server provider worldwide1, was the first major systems vendor to factory-install Red Hat Linux on its servers and workstations. With today's announcement, Dell becomes the first major systems vendor to factory-install Red Hat Linux across its entire server line, making the PowerEdge brand even more attractive as a platform on which to build Internet-based business activities. Factory installation of an operating system customizes each server to exact customer specifications, which can save companies time and money and ultimately speed the installation and deployment of systems once they reach the customer location. Dell continues to offer factory-installation of Red Hat Linux across selected configurations of its workstations and desktop PCs.

"The Dell 'seal-of-approval' is important in advancing Linux-based OSes in the Enterprise space," said Matthew Szulik, CEO of Red Hat. "Dell continues to lead all server providers in offering Red Hat Linux-based platforms, and with today's announcement, adds worldwide service and support to its Linux capabilities. We're pleased that customers can look to Dell for a 'one-stop-shop' customized Red Hat Linux solution."

"Over the last year, we've seen increasing demand for Red Hat Linux, particularly from Internet Service Providers, government agencies, universities and businesses of all sizes," said Jack Steeg, vice president of alliances, Dell Computer Corporation's Enterprise Systems Group. "Our shipments of Red Hat Linux have more than doubled over the past quarter and we expect this trend to continue and even accelerate as the adoption and acceptance of Linux as a mainstream operating system increases significantly."

"We operate our entire business, providing seasonal and holiday home d�cor products and resources over the web, on Dell PowerEdge servers and Red Hat Linux," said Justin Anderson, Chief Information Officer for iCelebrate.com.

"Beginning with Halloween, we are in the midst of that time of year where we expect our heaviest server traffic. The Dell - Red Hat combination is a cost-effective solution that has reliably kept our Web site humming."

The worldwide service and support agreement announced today is a first for Red Hat and Dell. The agreement provides Dell customers with a combination of free and discounted services and support and will help improve their ownership experience. With this agreement, Dell's global customers can now get service and support for Red Hat Linux in all the major business regions of the world and all Dell customers using Red Hat Linux can expect increased levels of service and support from Dell and Red Hat. As part of its continued focus on Linux service and support, Red Hat recently opened a series of customer support centers to provide support for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Japan and the Asia Pacific region.

These new resources will assist PowerEdge server customers by providing Red Hat Linux support in native languages. The agreement offers Dell customers 90 days Web and phone support from Red Hat; discounted Red Hat professional services, including installation assistance where necessary; and 180 days of Red Hat subscription services, which automatically notify administrators via email of new OS versions and patches.

As an additional part of the extended strategic alliance, Dell and Red Hat have committed engineering resources toward ensuring that Red Hat Linux runs optimally on Dell PowerEdge servers and associated peripherals. All Dell PowerEdge servers are Red Hat tested and certified, and are ready for customer use out-of-the-box.

About Red Hat Services
From installation and configuration support to certification programs to consulting, Red Hat services set a new standard for enterprise-level support for Linux-based operating systems. Red Hat continues to grow its support offerings, including the international expansion of its popular Red Hat Certified Engineer training and certification courses for Red Hat Linux. Red Hat also offers Developer Training courses.

With more than 350 expert consultants, Red Hat and its partners offer Red Hat Linux consulting services, including: on-site consulting; strategy formation; planning; evaluation; classification and organization; training; implementation; recurring operations and audit. Red Hat Linux-based enterprise IT operations can choose anything from initial installation help to full, ongoing outsourced management of their complete Linux-based information management operation. Red Hat offers all the services needed to successfully install, integrate, manage and support open source solutions in today's rapidly growing enterprises.

Enterprises such as Autozone and Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation have also chosen Red Hat for services. For more information about Red Hat services and support solutions, see http://www.redhat.com/products/support_solutions.html.

Pricing and Availability for Dell PowerEdge Servers
Dell PowerEdge servers with Red Hat Linux 6.1 factory installed are available in English today worldwide. Dell expects to factory -install and support other languages of the Red Hat Linux operating system in the coming months. Pricing depends upon customer-specified configurations. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained through its toll-free number 1-800-388-8542 or by accessing the Dell World Wide Web site at http://www.dell.com/.

About Red Hat, Inc.
Founded in 1994, Red Hat (NASDAQ:RHAT) is the market leader in open source operating system (OS) software, services and information. Along with its award-winning open source Red Hat Linux OS, Red Hat offers a full line of services, including telephone support, on-site consulting, developer training, certification programs and priority access updates, making Red Hat a leading resource for knowledgeable, innovative, mission-critical open source solutions. Red Hat shares all of its software innovations freely with the open source community under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The Official Red Hat Linux OS and related services are available directly from the company and through its partner, distributor and reseller programs. Red Hat is based in Durham, N.C. and has offices worldwide. Visit Red Hat on the Web at http://www.redhat.com/. For investor inquiries, contact Lippert/Heilshorn at (212) 838-3777.

Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release that are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding current or future financial performance, management's plans and objectives for future operations, product plans and performance, management's assessment of market factors, and statements regarding the strategy and plans of Red Hat and its strategic partners, constitute forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with Red Hat's dependence upon an open source business model, reliance upon independent third-party Linux developers, management of growth, reliance upon strategic relationships, expansion of Red Hat's business focus and operations, the possibility of undetected software errors, the enforceability of the GNU General Public License and other licenses under which Red Hat's products are developed and licensed, the scarcity of Linux-based applications, the risks of economic downturns generally, and in Red Hat's industry specifically, the risks associated with competition and competitive pricing pressures, the viability of the Internet, year 2000 compliance efforts of Red Hat and of third parties on which Red Hat depends, and other risks detailed in Red Hat's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov/.

LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Dell and PowerEdge are registered trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation. 1 Source: International Data Corporation, Quarterly PC Server Results Bulletin. Rankings based on U.S. and Worldwide ``PC Server Shipments by Vendor'' for 3Q99.