On the eve of delivering the opening keynote at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, Red Hat has unveiled the Red Hat Application Server.

The software uses code from open source projects including Java Open Application Server being developed by the ObjectWeb non-profit software consortium and Tomcat, part of the Apache Jakarta Project.

The Application Server competes with products from companies like BEA, IBM and Oracle, all three of which appear to be in support of Red Hat's offering. IBM even applauded Red Hat's efforts at the official unveiling.

Red Hat chief executive Matthew Szulik told vnunet.com in an interview that the software will be available immediately at $70 to $80 per month per CPU including support.

The Application Server is the first of a series of new open source products which Red Hat plans to offer outside its traditional business of selling the Linux operating system. This will ensure future revenue growth, according to Szulik.

"It's about taking responsibility. Five years from now, you have to deliver results," he said in response to a comment by Sun Microsystems chief operating officer Jonathan Schwartz in an interview in Monday's Wall Street Journal.

Schwartz had stated that he is looking at Novell as a potential acquisition target because it would give him control over the SuSE Linux distribution. That in turn could frustrate IBM's Linux strategy.

"Talk is cheap," said Szulik commenting on Schwartz's alleged acquisition plans. "I do not see it happening."