Linux leaders offer education discounts
Red Hat and SuSE Linux, the top two sellers of the open-source operating system, are launching new discounts to attract students and educational institutions, a strategically important customer set for technology companies.
Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat, the top seller of the open-source operating system, will sell students its Red Hat Academic Desktop product for $25 and sell schools its Red Hat Academic Server product for $50, including online software updates but no telephone support. The products will be offered first in the United States, but will be available internationally by the end of the year, said John Young, vice president of marketing.
No. 2 SuSE on Wednesday began offering schools, students, universities and nonprofit customers a discount of more than 40 percent through two sales partners, CCV Software and Ricis.
An irony in discount plans is that analysts ascribe much of Linux's popularity in the education market to the fact that it can be obtained for free. The products from Red Hat and SuSE have been getting more expensive as the companies try to catch up with the support and quality control of the commercial software realm to attract more customers.
