http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000417/pk.html
> Monday April 17, 7:31 pm Eastern Time
>
> Linux startup Eazel gets $11 million in funding
>
> SAN FRANCISCO, April 17 (Reuters) - Eazel Inc., a Linux start-up
> company founded by some veterans from Apple Computer Inc.
> (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news), said that it had received $11 million in
> its first round of funding from Accel Partners, a well-known
> Silicon Valley venture capital firm.
>
> The company, based in Palo Alto, Calif., also said that Bud
> Colligan, a partner with Accel and also the former chairman of
> Macromedia Inc. (NasdaqNM:MACR - news), has joined the company's
> board of directors.
>
> Eazel, founded in August, 1999, is developing user interface
> software that it hopes will make the Linux operating system
> easier to use. Eazel's software will become a key component of
> the next version of the GNOME project, an open source project
> that is developing a graphical user interface for Linux.
>
> While Linux has made inroads against Microsoft Corp.'s
> (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Windows NT software in servers running Web
> sites and email, it is still too unwieldy for average computer
> users to use on desktop computers.
>
> The company said it will use its funding to hire staff and to
> continue to work on product development. It currently has about
> 35 employees, including Guy ``Bud'' Tribble, formerly with Sun
> Microsystems Inc., (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news), who is vice president
> of engineering and chief technology officer.
>
> ``We are continuing to hire aggressively and expand the
> infrastructure of the company, which is the first use of the
> cash,'' said Mike Boich, president and chief executive of Eazel.
> Boich and another co-founder Andy Hertzfeld were two original
> members of the Apple Macintosh development team.
>
> The first Eazel product launch is scheduled for this summer and
> is currently code-named Nautilus. Nautilus is equivalent to the
> Macintosh Finder, a graphical shell which helps users manage
> their files and see the view of their desktop. It will be a
> component of GNOME 2.0, and Eazel said it will be released
> sometime in the summer after July 15.
>
> Eazel is also developing some services through Nautilus, such as
> open source software catalogues, automatic software installations
> and network-based backup and storage.
--
Gerald Oskoboiny <
[email protected]>
http://impressive.net/people/gerald/