April 12, 2000

LUTRIS TECHNOLOGIES ACQUIRES InstantDB DATABASE

Sponsor of Enhydra Open Source Java/XML Application Server Plans to Deliver InstantDB as the First Open Source, 100 percent JavaTM RDBMS

Santa Cruz, California, - Lutris Technologies Inc., today announced the acquisition of InstantDBTM, a JavaTM relational database management system (RDBMS). In addition, Lutris announced that Peter Hearty, the developer of Instant DB, has joined the company to continue development and support of InstantDB, its customer base and development community. Lutris has also begun preparing InstantDB for its introduction to the Open Source community, scheduled for early summer.

"Our goal is to support the development of the best Open Source tools, applications, and services for building Internet applications," said Paul Morgan, Vice President of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer at Lutris. "We are confident that current users and the Enhydra Open Source community will embrace InstantDB and help to ensure its success as an Open Source initiative."

InstantDB is a 100 percent Java RDBMS. Since its introduction in July 1997, the database has been adopted by thousands of Internet and database developers worldwide and has been distributed freely for use by non-profit and government organizations. It has also been available for purchase by for-profit companies, and currently ships with IBM's WebsphereTM application server and other commercial applications. The current version is small, efficient, and easy to install; it also includes sample database functions to help the novice developer get started. InstantDB is accessed via its own JDBCTM driver, and utilization of standard SQL and Sun's JDBC API ensures that applications are highly portable.

In addition to adding InstantDB to the Lutris family of products, Lutris' professional services organization, which has built its reputation on the technologically comprehensive Internet applications it develops quickly and cost effectively, will leverage InstantDB to build customer prototypes and test applications more quickly and efficiently.

"InstantDB is sure to bolster Lutris' professional services capabilities, while the support and services Lutris provides are sure to be a benefit to the loyal InstantDB customer base," said Peter Hearty. "I'm very excited about taking the product Open Source and helping to foster the community, and I like the prospect of delivering leading edge Open Source options to compete with traditional, closed source software."

InstantDB is well suited to join the Open Source development community. The company has not been subject to the demands of traditional commercial software development methodology, which often results in a highly unmanageable code base and unacknowledged bugs. Additionally, InstantDB has enjoyed support from a large community of users - a model similar to that which continues to be very successful in Open Source development circles.

Current InstantDB users participating in the support mailing lists may continue to leverage the resource at its new home, instantdb.Enhydra.org.

Additional information about product availability and updates on the product's transition to Open Source are also available there.

About Lutris Technologies

Lutris Technologies, a premier Open Source enterprise software and Services Company, is the original developer and primary sponsor of Enhydra (www.enhydra.org), one of the industry's leading Open Source Java/XML application server. Lutris provides a forum and maintains the infrastructure for the Enhydra development community, a rapidly growing group of developers from around the world who have adopted Enhydra as the basis for a broad range of Internet and wireless projects and applications.

Lutris also is an Internet professional services company providing strategy and development services to the Enhydra community and to Internet-savvy businesses. Clients range from entrepreneurs and companies launching new Web ventures, to Fortune 500 IT organizations growing their business with an online presence. Investors include Chase Capital Partners, TransCosmos USA, and the Intel 64 Fund.

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