Open Country commits to Improving Webmin as an Open Project and Increasing Appeal with Professional Services and Support.

LINUXWORLD, BOOTH #956, San Francisco, Aug. 9, 2005 � Open Country, a leading provider of Linux systems management tools, today announced that it is sponsoring Webmin, a major Open Source web-based systems administration console with over 1.4 million downloads in the last year.

Open Country plans to improve Webmin as an open project and in addition, will offer professional services and support, further broadening Webmin's appeal and use throughout the Linux community. Webmin project founder and architect Jamie Cameron will join Open Country�s development team as Architect and Project Leader.

"Open Country recognizes the importance of the Open Source movement and continues to be actively engaged in Open Source funding,� said Michael Grove, CEO of Open Country. "By sponsoring Webmin, Open Country can help insure that this valuable administration tool continues to thrive and remain Open Source. Through offering services and support, and providing links to advanced open and commercial products, enterprise customers win too.�

Webmin, designed for managing individual systems without the need for a command line interface complements Open Country�s OC-Manager scalable enterprise systems management software which is ideal for managing hundreds of systems from a single interface. Currently, OC-Manager incorporates a portion of Webmin to perform single system management functions with plans to integrate Webmin�s strengths and select future enhancements to advance OC-Manager.

�With sponsorship by Open Country, Webmin gains secure funding which provides a greater opportunity to focus on continued development,� said Cameron. �Open Country understands the challenges faced by the Linux community and is committed to delivering easy-to-use systems management tools required to drive global adoption.�

In addition to sponsoring Webmin, Open Country supports Open Source by participating in several standards organizations including the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and Linux Standards Base (LSB).

Open Country's flagship product, OC-Manager can be implemented in less than a day to efficiently manage current Linux implementations whether there are 10 or 10,000 units deployed while providing a very adaptable management foundation to expand Open Source and other implementations of Linux. OC-Manager�s web-based user interface empowers system administrators, even those not specifically trained in Linux, to easily perform critical tasks including provisioning, monitoring, backup and restore, software and patch management, and disaster recovery.

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