Red Hat graphic designers are no strangers to the pains of proprietary formats. Over the years, many have lost photographs, archived projects, and important portfolio work when formats have been changed. They’ve been forced to upgrade before they’re ready, too.

Red Hat today announced that SAP AG, the largest provider of business software solutions in the world, has certified the SAP NetWeaver platform on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform. The certification includes the virtualization technology embedded in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 for use with SAP applications.

Red Hat announced financial results for its fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2007. Red Hat's current fiscal year will end February 29, 2008.

Red Hat Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said his company last year held talks with Microsoft Corp over a patent agreement that broke down before the software giant signed a deal with Red Hat rival Novell Inc.

"Red Hat Linux has received a new level of security certification that should make the software more appealing to some government agencies. Earlier this month IBM was able to achieve EAL4 Augmented with ALC_FLR.3 certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, putting it on a par with Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Trusted Solaris operating system, said Dan Frye, vice president of open systems with IBM."

Red Hat last week continued its appliance assault via a partnership with Symantec.

Funded by the Singapore Red Cross and an IT initiative under the National Blood Program, the non-profit website chooses Red Hat Enterprise Linux to connect with blood donors and volunteers in Singapore and beyond.

Red Hat chief executive Matthew Szulik today told startups to forget the "romance" of open source and build businesses that compete with proprietary vendors on services and value.