For Immediate Release
July 25, 2000

Industry Veteran Backs FreeOS.com

Dr. Arvind Shah expresses confidence in the open source movement

The worldwide Open Source Movement will receive a boost with Indian IT industry veteran Dr. Arvind Shah making an equity investment in FreeOS.com, a leading Web site providing information and resources on all free Operating Systems, like Linux.

Free Operating Systems are the result of code developed and updated by thousands of programmers around the world on a voluntary basis. FreeOS.com aims to bring these free operating systems, some unknown of, to the people by providing news, information, software and resource links etc. Their focus also lies in professional services such as consultancy, support and software development for free operating systems.

"I think FreeOS.com is one of the few Web sites in the world which provide a one stop solution, be it software, support or services, for all free operating systems", said Dr. Arvind Shah, Chairman of Boston Education and Software Technologies Ltd., on his decision to invest in FreeOS.com.

"Free operating systems liberate users from commercial tie-in and costly upgrades. The availability of source code is a huge advantage, enabling users to create customized, highly optimized operating environments for their enterprise and mission critical systems. In general this alternative is more stable, reliable and bug free. I see FreeOS.com as a vehicle to deploy these new generation robust systems through the services that they offer".

In addition to the necessary investment, Dr. Shah will also provide his expertise and leverage his experiences in the software industry to help make FreeOS.com a recognizable brand name and a force to reckon with among the Open Source websites. The company is expanding its team of experts to provide professional services such as support, consultancy and software development for free operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD.

"With this investment, we are now able to dedicate a lot more resources and offer services as well. We are now expanding our expertise into providing customized solutions, services and distribution of Linux and other free operating systems", said Prakash Advani, CEO of FreeOS.com. "Our goal is to see the proliferation of free operating systems in the corporate environment. We are already providing our expertise to provide robust and innovative solutions to some of the leading organizations".

Founded in 1998, FreeOS.com caters to individuals interested in free operating systems (like Linux, FreeBSD etc). They are a leading provider of news, information, resource links, software etc. relating to free operating systems. FreeOS.com (I) Pvt. Ltd., maintains the web site and specializes in providing customized solutions, consulting, training and distribution in free operating systems such as Linux.

Dr. Arvind Shah is the Chairman of Boston Education and Software Technologies, a leading provider of computer education and software services. He has over 3 decades of experience in the international IT arena. In the past Dr. Shah was a promoter of the Hinditron group and during this association served as Vice President of Software exports and Educational services. Dr. Shah has also served as the Chairman of National Association of Computers Trainers (NACT), Executive Committee Member of NASSCOM, member of the Advisory Committee on computer education (DOE) and CSI committee to draft National IT policy. Dr. Shah holds a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, USA.>