VA Research Linux Systems Acquires Electric Lichen and Expands Executive Management Team

Intel Investment Fuels Growth of Linux Solutions Leader

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 15, 1999-- VA Research Linux Systems (VA), the leading provider of Linux systems and support, today announced that it has acquired Electric Lichen L.L.C., a leading Linux marketing consulting company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The announcement comes on the heels of an announcement that Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has taken a minority stake in the company. VA also announced today the addition of Brian Biles, a 10 year veteran of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW), to its executive team as vice president of marketing.

Perhaps best known for its efforts helping IBM (NYSE: IBM), Informix (NASDAQ: IFMX), and numerous Linux distribution vendors launch their Linux strategies, Electric Lichen is well-regarded for having taken an active role in advising the Linux community. The addition of Electric Lichen's professional services staff will enable VA's customers to deploy and optimize Linux in their environments.

"The addition of Electric Lichen's team means that VA will bolster its full service Linux solutions for enterprise customers," said Dr. Larry M. Augustin, president and CEO of VA Research Linux Systems. "We're very fortunate to attract talent such as Electric Lichen and Brian Biles."

"VA Research is the first, largest and fastest-growing pure Linux system vendor," said Brian Biles, vice president of marketing at VA Research Linux Systems. "No other vendor is better able to take full advantage of the power of Linux to provide a complete systems and service offering. This is the hottest company in Silicon Valley and I'm delighted to be a part of it."

"It's not just that we get to work on the world's best Linux systems," said Don Marti. "It's great to be working with the talented Linux people at VA, who have been building superior Linux systems since 1993." Marti, co-founder of Electric Lichen and the publicity director of Silicon Valley Linux Users Group, was an active organizer of the recent Windows Refund Day events held worldwide last month and the designer of several widely used computer programs.

In New York City, where the Linux community is blossoming, Jim Gleason, the other co-founder of Electric Lichen commented, "We are thrilled to be part of the VA organization. They've been designing and building Linux systems since the 1.0 kernel was available and their staff comprises some of the most intelligent and well-known people in the Linux industry." In addition to opening the New York sales office for VA, Jim will continue in his capacity as president of the New York Linux Users Group (www.nylug.org).

VA Research Linux Systems is a leading provider of Linux-based hardware software, service and support solutions. The first Linux systems company in the world, VA is a pioneer in providing high performance workstations and servers to enterprises and is at the forefront of the open source revolution. VA also has the rights to the premier Linux portal, Linux.com. Based in Mountain View, Calif., the privately held company has been profitable since its formation in 1993 and has gained a reputation for innovation and responsiveness that is making it a leader in full service Linux solutions. For more information contact VA at www.varesearch.com, (888) LINUX-4U or by sending email to sales@varesearch.com. For more information on Linux, visit www.linux.com.

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