Cygnus Hosts Key Linux Software Technology.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 1999--

Free Software Foundation Names EGCS Official GNU Maintainer

of GCC -- Software Critical to Development of Linux Based

Operating Systems, Applications

Cygnus, the leader in open source software, today announced that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has appointed the EGCS Steering Committee as the official GNU maintainer for GCC.

Hosted by Cygnus at http://egcs.cygnus.com/, EGCS is as an open source software project to further the development of the GNU compiler software. The GNU compiler supports C, C++, Java and many other high-level languages into optimized machine code for the broadest range of microprocessors found in devices such as Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s next generation PlayStation, Cisco routers, and Nortel telecom/datacom products.

GCC is one of the primary tools used to build the Linux kernel, and one of the fundamental reasons that Linux has been successfully ported to so many microprocessor architectures.

"Cygnus has a long standing history of making significant contributions to the GCC compiler and sponsoring open source projects such as EGCS," said Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux.

"I am pleased to see that the EGCS project will assume an official role in shepherding the development of GCC, because good compilers are fundamental to the success of Linux applications. GCC, with its GPL licensing terms, ensures that the development tools used to build Linux and Linux applications will evolve as rapidly as the kernel itself."

GCC is a component of every commercial Linux distribution, and is commercially supported by Cygnus on Linux and more than 100 other platform configurations. A primary benefit of GCC is its support for object level compatibility across C, C++ and Java code without any performance penalties.

Benefits of Open Source

The open source model has enabled the rapid development of GNU Compilers to include new languages, optimizations, target support, improved runtime libraries, and infrastructure improvements. It also features the benefits of open source, including cooperation and communication between developers.

"Being appointed by the Free Software Foundation as the official GNU maintainer for GCC means that the EGCS team has successfully exemplified the benefits of the open source model and demonstrates further proof that a diverse and dispersed group of individuals can maintain, develop, and drive a de facto industry standard," said Jeff Law, Cygnus GCC Engineer and EGCS maintainer.

"Cygnus will continue our ongoing commitment to EGCS and ensure the continued success of the project by providing the necessary resources such as engineers, hardware, and Internet connections."

Mark Mitchell, president of CodeSourcery, LLC (www.codesourcery.com), and prominent EGCS contributor said, "We are pleased that the Free Software Foundation has recognized the success of our efforts to drive a GNU standard. Like all of the contributions, our work on the C++ front-end has caused EGCS to improve more quickly than ever before while creating an even more reliable compilation system."

About EGCS

Hosted by Cygnus at http://egcs.cygnus.com/, EGCS (Experimental GNU Compiler Suite) is an open source software project that furthers the development of the GNU compiler. Announced in August 1997, EGCS evolved from an "experimental" system into a proven framework for collaborative compiler development based on the open source model.

Featuring open mailing lists, developer friendly tools, and procedures, EGCS welcomes contributions from all individuals and companies and makes the code available to everyone. All contributions are considered equally based on their technical merits. In addition, all compilers are available under the terms of the GPL, and copyrights for the compilers are held by the FSF.

Other components (such as runtime libraries and test suites) are made available under various free licenses with copyrights being held by individual authors or the FSF.

Cygnus Solutions' Role in GNU

Cygnus is the leading driver of innovations to the GNU source code through the company's own development efforts, customer-driven requirements, and contributions from the Internet community. Cygnus delivers those advances quickly to ensure that GNU remains the leading development software technology and to provide our customers with commercially packaged and supported solutions.

Leader in Open Source Software

As a leader in open source software, Cygnus engineers have contributed the majority of all new innovations in GNU and drive GNU development tools technology forward by incorporating leading-edge features and optimizations. Cygnus works with platform vendors to ensure the latest GNU technologies are available on their platforms, as well as end users to customize and optimize GNUPro(R) tools, the commercial version of the GNU tools, for specific applications.

Cygnus offers unparalleled quality, functionality, and support of GNUPro tools in a commercial software development environment for Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and over 100 other platform configurations, including the next-generation PlayStation from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Cygnus Solutions 

The market leader in open source software technologies, Cygnus Solutions offers development tools and operating systems based on an open-source model. From GNUPro Toolkit to eCos(TM), the Embedded Cygnus Operating System, Cygnus' open-source and royalty-free software benefits Linux, Windows NT/95, and UNIX systems developers in a wide variety of market segments, including consumer electronics, Internet, telecommunications, office automation, networking, aerospace and automotive.

Cygnus' products, custom engineering services, and developer support services enable our customers to bring products to market faster at reduced system development costs.

Founded in 1989, with headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., Cygnus has sales and engineering offices throughout North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

For more information on GNUPro pricing, the power of Cygnus' source-level support, and the more than 125 cross-development environments supported by Cygnus GNUPro, contact Cygnus corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale at 408/542-9600, 1-800-CYGNUS-1, [e-mail], or visit the Web site at http://www.cygnus.com/product/gnupro.html.

Note to Editors: Cygnus and GNUPro are registered trademarks, and Sourceware and eCos are trademarks of Cygnus Solutions. Open Source is a Certification Mark of the Open Source Initiative. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.