Conectiva: The birth of a Linux Distribution

Curitiba, July 2000 - Conectiva was founded in 1995 by a team of experiment computer technicians coming from an important financial institution. They got together and decided to take a chance with the Linux operating system as an Internet solution. After some time, they noticed a great demand for a Linux distribution to serve the Brazilian and Latin American markets.

After learning the real needs of this market, the first Linux distribution in Brazil was born, called Conectiva Linux Parolin, at the time, this distribution was based on the American distribution Red Hat. From then on, several version have been released, and nowadays Conectiva is completely unattached from Red Hat, developing their own distribution. Today, you can find on the market, the Conectiva Linux 5.0 - desktop version, and still to come will be a Server Edition.

From its headquarters, thousands of products are sent-out monthly, to the most remote areas of the planet. Nowadays, Conectiva is responsible, for making of Latin America. become one of the world's largest centers of Linux. Being Brazil, one of the countries which own the highest growth rates, reaching in 1999, an average of over 200%, one of the world's highest, according to the IDC Research Institute.

The company is headquartered in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil, being strategically located within the Mercosul. In the year 2000, Conectiva has inaugurated branches in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Curitiba, Buenos Aires (ARG), Cidade do México (MEX) and Bogotá (COL). Still predicted are units in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Miami.

Since it is a company managed by people who know and work directly with computers, and more specifically, with Linux, and still counts on partners and investors of national and international status, Conectiva stands-out as one of the main Information Technology companies in Latin America.

With hundreds of employees acting strong in the development of Linux, Conectiva presented, for 1999, a growth rate of more than 500% when compared to the previous year.