NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 24, 2001– RedFlag’s Membership in the Foundation Signals the Localization of GNOME Into Chinese — Making it Available to More Than One Billion People.

In a move that will make GNOME available to more than a billion people, RedFlag has joined the Advisory Board of the GNOME Foundation. As part of the membership, RedFlag will lead an effort to localize GNOME, the entirely free user environment for desktops, networked servers and portable Internet devices, into Simplified Chinese. “With the addition of RedFlag and the localization of GNOME, businesses and individuals in China can enjoy the power, cost-effectiveness and ease of use of free software,” said Havoc Pennington, GNOME Foundation board chair. “In addition, talented programmers in China will be able to utilize the modern architecture and design of GNOME for application development.” RedFlag will lead GNOME Foundation efforts in China, focusing on education, support and marketing. It will also join the volunteer efforts of more than 500 of the world’s most talented software designers and programmers who are currently working on GNOME or GNOME-compatible programs. “We’re very committed to the GNOME Foundation and the localization of GNOME into Simplified Chinese,” said Bo Liu, president and CEO of RedFlag Software Co. Ltd. “GNOME is a robust and powerful environment that will be very beneficial to individuals, companies and educators here in China.” GNOME is a free software project (also referred to as open source software) that is developing a complete, easy-to-use desktop for Linux (GNU/Linux), BSD and a variety of other Unix and Unix-like operating systems. The GNOME desktop is used by millions of people around the world. More than 500 computer developers, including more than 100 full-time, paid developers, contribute their time and effort to the project.

About the GNOME Foundation

Composed of hundreds of volunteer developers and industry-leading companies, the GNOME Foundation is an organization committed to supporting the advancement of GNOME. GNOME is an entirely free user environment for desktops, networked servers and portable Internet devices. The modern architecture and design of GNOME includes a technically advanced application development platform and a powerful end-user desktop environment. Major leading software industry and computer manufacturers support the GNOME development effort, which is led by a worldwide community of volunteers. More information on GNOME is available at www.gnome.org.

About RedFlag

RedFlag Software Co. Ltd. is a leading company of Linux distributions and applications in China, developing applications and operating systems for server, desktop and embedded platforms. RedFlag Software also provides applications to end-users for achieving system security and performance. With more than 20 years of experience in Unix and open source systems and more than 18 years of Chinese localization experience, RedFlag devotes itself to empower any kind of CPU-based hardware from set-top boxes, mobile appliances, PDAs and mainframes. It offers a full line of services, including telephone support, on-site consulting, developer training, certification programs, e-business and ISV support. Located in Beijing, the company can be found on the Web at www.redflag-linux.com.