VA Linux Names Colin Bodell Senior Vice President of Product Development; Veteran of WebGain, Intellicorp and Merant to Lead SourceForge Product Development.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2001

VA Linux Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:LNUX), provider of the SourceForge(TM) collaborative software development platform, today announced the appointment of Colin Bodell as Senior Vice President of Product Development. Mr. Bodell will lead SourceForge product development, reporting directly to President and Chief Operating Officer Ali Jenab.

With more than seventeen years of experience in software engineering and product development, Colin Bodell previously served as a senior executive at WebGain, Intellicorp and Merant. As Executive Vice President of Engineering and Product Management for WebGain, Mr. Bodell delivered WebGain Studio, Application Composer and Business Designer products to complete the WebGain end-to-end product portfolio. During his tenure at Intellicorp, Mr. Bodell served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Product Development, helping Intellicorp re-focus on SAP R/3-centric business process management, enterprise application integration and CRM eBusiness solutions for Fortune 1000 companies.

"We're thrilled that Colin has joined VA and expect him to play a central role as we continue to incorporate new features and functionality into SourceForge Enterprise Edition," said Ali Jenab, President and COO, VA Linux. "Colin brings a solid track record of delivering Internet-based enterprise software products and rounds out the enterprise software expertise of our executive team."

About VA Linux Systems

VA Linux is the provider of SourceForge, a centralized, integrated collaborative software development platform for building better software faster. SourceForge Enterprise Edition helps R&D, engineering and IT organizations maximize software development productivity by improving internal visibility and control. Further information on SourceForge is available at www.valinux.com and at 1-877/VALINUX.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding our expectations and beliefs regarding technological trends in, and emergence of, collaborative software development, the future functionality, business potential, demand for, efficiencies created by and adoption of SourceForge(TM), our intent to continue to invest significant resources in software development, our intent to develop long-term relationships and strategic alliances, competition, competitors, the bases of competition and our ability to compete. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements due to various factors, including: competition with, and pricing pressures from, more established competitors; VA Linux's success in expanding its collaborative software development business; the risk that VA Linux's restructuring efforts will not succeed; VA Linux's ability to successfully attract, retain and motivate employees; the possibility of further deterioration in the general economy; and rapid technological and market change. Investors should consult VA Linux's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding these and the other risks of the Company's business. These documents are available at www.sec.gov. VA Linux assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this news release.

Note to Editors: VA Linux Systems and SourceForge are trademarks of VA Linux Systems, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.