Progeny Linux Systems Inc., which last month appointed Caldera/SCO co-founder and former CEO Ransom Love to its board, next year will extend its software update and transition services to users of Red Hat Linux 8.0 and 9.

The move will give subscribers to the Progeny Transition Services access to a software repository containing security updates for Red Hat Linux 7.2, 7.3, 8.0 and 9.

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It will also notify them about security vulnerabilities and the available patches at a flat cost of $5 a machine per month or $2,500 a month for an unlimited number of machines.

Security patches will be available via http retrieval from a software repository or through Novell's XimianRed Carpet Enterprise Version 2.0.

This service is part of Progeny's Platform Services, which helps organizations more effectively manage their Linux platforms.

Indianapolis-based Progeny, an independent provider of Linux platform technology, was founded by Debian Linux creator Ian Murdock.

CEO Garth Dickey said that many of its customers wanted support for Red Hat Linux 8.0 and 9, "so we have decided to expand our offering. This update service will allow those businesses to transition to a new platform on their own timetable. Progeny creates and maintains custom Linux platforms, so it's a natural extension for us to provide these updates," he said.

Alan Nugent, the CTO of Novell, said businesses that relied on these Red Hat Linux platforms needed time and flexibility for an orderly migration to a new platform. "Novell is pleased that these software updates will be available for users of Novell's Ximian Red Carpet Enterprise Version 2.0," he said.

Red Hat, of Raleigh, N.C., in November said it was going to focus on the enterprise space, telling customers that it will no longer be maintaining or releasing any of the its Red Hat Linux line after the end of April 2004. Red Hat's branding moves are meant to shepherd as many users as possible toward the RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) line and its profitable per-machine, service-contract model.

Read eWEEK Labs' beta test drive of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0.