Oracle buys open source developer

IT giant, Oracle has acquired Ksplice, an open source technology provider for updating Linux, for an undisclosed amount, reports CBR Online.

Oracle says the acquisition will increase the security, reliability and availability of Oracle Linux by enabling users to apply security updates, diagnostics patches and critical bug fixes without rebooting the product.

Gemini says Ksplice, started by four MIT students, released the initial extension on 23 April 2008 and offered pre-built and tested updates for the Red Hat, Cent OS, Fedora, Debian, and Ubuntu, among others.

Jeff Arnold, CEO of Ksplice, says: “Ksplice's technology will be able to take Oracle's kernel updates and transform them into zero downtime updates that provide always-accessible systems with no reboot necessary.

“This results in improved system availability and security as well as reduced operational costs for the customer.”

According to M&A Deals, Oracle expects to make Ksplice technology a standard feature of Oracle Linux Premier Support.