SOT Linux 2003 and SOT Office 2003 released

New SOT Linux 2003 and SOT Office 2003 released - free

Autotalo, Helsinki, Finland, 4.6.2003

SOT has officially announced the arrival of the 2003 release of 
the company's popular SOT Linux and SOT Office products. The new 
office suite and operating system, which is available in both 
Desktop and Server versions, are being provided free to whoever 
wishes to make use of the software.

SOT's 2003 releases mark a shift in the company's philosophy towards
a purely open source platform. All proprietary software in earlier 
SOT Linux releases has been replaced in the new version with open 
source equivalents.

Mr Santeri Kannisto, Managing Director of SOT, explained the new 
approach as an issue of software freedom:

"With SOT Linux 2003, we have taken the time to craft a well-tested
and stable Linux distribution that includes an integrated office 
suite. Another of our primary goals with the new release has been 
to achieve a truly free GNU/Linux distribution. The code and product
are completely free, in both senses of the word- available at no 
charge, and free to modify and distribute. SOT is a profitable 
software company with a focus on software projects and integrating 
GNU/Linux into various systems. We don't need to rely on licenses, 
keys, patents, and other artificial limitations."

SOT Linux 2003 supports the English, Finnish and Russian languages. 
Security in the new release has been hardened, making it ready to use
for production servers. Other improvements in the new SOT Linux 
include full support for the Linux Standard Base (LSB) version 1.2, 
a updated, well tested and coherent code base, and support for new 
hardware.

"I encourage people to copy, sell, distribute and generally exploit 
this excellent piece of software that's what we made it for", said 
Mr. Henri Ranki, GNU/Linux Expert, SOT.

"The new SOT Linux and SOT Office products demonstrate our 
capabilities as a software house, and will provide the base of our 
soon-to-be-released COTS product range. Future development of both 
products will continue as a co-operative joint effort under the banner
of the Linux Business Alliance."

SOT believes that a Linux distribution should provide a complete 
desktop environment, with all the tools for everyday work and play. 
The new SOT Linux Desktop release incorporates the SOT Office 
productivity suite, designed to meet user's word processing, 
presentation, and spreadsheet requirements, without the need 
to install separate office software. The distribution is a "turn-key",
pre-configured system that can be used right away.

About SOT

SOT is a software house, founded in Finland in 1991, with an extensive
knowledge of GNU/Linux and Open Source. SOT has been successfully
deploying GNU/Linux and Open Source solutions for over 7 years, and 
has been an active participant in the international GNU/Linux 
development effort, with its own SOT Linux distribution. SOT's 
mission is perfecting GNU/Linux.

About Linux Business Alliance

The Linux Business Alliance (LBA) is a group of companies dedicated
to the advancement of GNU/Linux and Open Source. Through 
the co-operative design, production and distribution of quality 
GNU/Linux products, the LBA aims to promote the adoption of GNU/Linux
and strengthen the Open Source community. For more information, see 
the Linux Business Alliance website at http://www.linuxalliance.org

For press samples and technical details please contact

Mr Henri Ranki
telephone: +358 20 155 2204
fax: +358 20 155 2219
e-mail: Henri.Ranki@sot.com

Additional information

SOT: http://www.sot.com
SOT Linux: http://www.sotlinux.org
SOT's New Open Source policy: http://www.sot.com/en/os.shtml
Linux Business Alliance: http://www.linuxalliance.org

Media relations

telephone: +358 20 155 2206
fax: +358 20 155 2209
E-mail: PRelations@sot.com