Red Hat opens directory server code

A few days before its Dec. 8 deadline, Red Hat opened the full source code of the Netscape directory server software it acquired from America Online nearly a year ago. The directory software is used to house information such as username-password pairs or computer user privileges. The newly released version 1.0 includes several modules for handling password encryption tasks, according to an announcement last week. However, the software doesn't yet support x86 processors with 64-bit memory addressing abilities.

Red Hat's directory server stems from the same lineage as a popular product of Sun Microsystems, which last week pledged to give that product away for free next quarter and eventually to make it open-source software as well. Red Hat's product also has competition from Novell and Microsoft.