Red Hat has had limited success at getting users to adopt the directory server software it launched last June and a Java-based application server that it released in 2004. But some IT managers applauded its proposed marriage with JBoss.

"Of all the potential firms that could have acquired JBoss, we feel that Red Hat - being an open-source proponent -- is a good match for us," said Barry Strasnick, CIO at Citi-Street LLC, a Quincy, Mass., company that manages benefits programs for companies and government agencies.

CitiStreet, which formerly was a big user of BEA Systems Inc.'s WebLogic application server, started moving to the open-source JBoss technology two years ago. Now the company uses JBoss on top of Red Hat Linux to support all of its mission-critical applications, Strasnick said.

Badri Nittoor, CEO of JBoss systems integrator Tripod Technologies LLC in Cherry Hill, N.J., said the acquisition will move Red Hat closer to having an enterprise-class stack of open-source software.

But he added that it remains to be seen how well the cultures of the two companies will mesh, since JBoss has more control over the source code for its software than Red Hat does over Linux.