TUCOWS.com Launches Industry’s First Hot List of Most Downloard Linux Software

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January 27, 2000

Corel Tops Red Hat with 37 Per Cent of Total Linux Downloads for December 1999

TORONTO, Canada, January 27, 2000 - TUCOWS.com Inc. (www.tucows.com), the Internet's leading distributor of digital content, today announced the industry's first monthly metric that identifies the most popular downloaded Linux software on the company's ftp.linux.tucows.com site. According to TUCOWS' December figures, Corel attained the highest percentage of downloads at 37 per cent, with Red Hat holding firm in second position at 20 per cent and Debian trailing in third place with 11 per cent. Other companies recording downloads included: Mandrake nine per cent; SuSE seven per cent; Slackware six per cent; and, Caldera six per cent. The above data relates to completely new distributions, rather than users updating existing distributions.

Over December, the total number of files downloaded from ftp.linux.tucows.com, which carries different Linux distributions, was nearly 1.7 million. With over 2 million uses, TUCOWS' ftp.linux.tucows.com library is the busiest in the world. The Tucows Linux applications library, linux.tucows.com, has the widest range of Linux news, information and software downloads. It has over 8,000 software titles. Currently there are 200 Tucows Linux affiliate partners supporting a quarter of a million Linux application downloads and 5 million page views a month.

"The Linux market is taking off, but there's little data to identify which companies are establishing leadership positions in the marketplace," said Elliot Noss, president and CEO, TUCOWS.com Inc. "With the ability to track Linux software downloads, TUCOWS is now able to deliver to the market comprehensive information on the growth and popularity of Linux and open-source applications. We hope it will spark some debate and provide users with some benchmarks".

The monthly hot list is part of TUCOWS' "Feed The Penguin" program. Feed The Penguin is TUCOWS' commitment to use its unique relationships, capabilities, and exposure as the Open Source Marketplace to help make Linux more accessible and understandable to the end user.

TUCOWS.com will participate at the Linux Expo, February 2 to 4, to be held at Jacob Javitis Center, New York City. The booth number is 473.

About Tucows.com Inc.

TUCOWS.com has become the leading provider of software on the Internet by creating an open source marketplace which is comprehensive and easy to use. The current TUCOWS libraries include Windows, Linux, PDA/Handhelds, BeOS, Mac, Games, Themes, Music and Kids with collectively nearly 40,000 titles. TUCOWS has also established itself as the leading wholesaler of domain registration solutions through its Assigned Names Division. TUCOWS has grown to over 90 million page views per month with six million monthly unique visitors. With over 750 affiliates in 75 countries hosting the TUCOWS libraries, TUCOWS has the largest independent software distribution network in the world providing the user with a fast, local download.