Archive for June 11th, 2008

RHX: Lessons Learned

by RHX Team

We are just beyond the first year anniversary of RHX, Red Hat’s program for open source software vendors. Rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated. RHX is different now. The team is smaller and the target market is different; but, fundamentally, RHX is smarter. It’s very much alive and is undergoing its third iteration. We’ve learned a lot along the way.

RHX LESSON 1: You don’t fully understand a problem until you try to implement the solution. [1]

The mission of RHX from the start has been to create a rising tide for the broader open source ecosystem. [2] We launched RHX at the May 2007 Summit by offering pre-integrated solution stacks with single-stop web support. RHN powered the delivery of bits. Our goal was to unlock demand in the vast small business market by pricing the solutions competitively and by making installation and support easier. You could even buy RHX solutions online!
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Red Hat Puts Patent Issue to Rest

by Legal Team

Today Red Hat announced the settlement of patent litigation involving Firestar Software, Inc. and DataTern, Inc. Below is a detailed FAQ with additional information about today’s news.

1. What was the lawsuit against Red Hat about?

The lawsuit was originally filed by Firestar Software, Inc. (“Firestar”) in 2006 in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (Civil Action No. 2-06CV-258). It alleged violation of U.S. Patent No. 6,101,502 (“’502 patent”), which relates to a method for interfacing an object-oriented software application with a relational database to facilitate access to the relational database. Firestar contended that Hibernate, a JBoss product, infringed the ‘502 patent. Red Hat denied that allegation and vigorously contested the claim.

2. What happened in course of the the lawsuit?

Red Hat defended on the basis that its products had not infringed the patent and that the patent was invalid. The parties exchanged information and numerous documents in discovery. Issues related to construction of the patent claims were briefed and an argument before the federal court was scheduled. The ‘502 patent was assigned by Firestar to DataTern, Inc. (“DataTern”), which thereafter became involved in the lawsuit. Shortly before the argument, the parties agreed on settlement terms.
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