[ic] Interchange now a Red Hat product

[Mike Heins]

Quoting Dan B (db@cyclonehq.dnsalias.net):
> At 09:28 PM 1/30/2001 -0500, you wrote:
> >Akopia has been acquired by Red Hat.  Interchange, Red Hat Stronghold
> >Secure web server, and Red Hat CCVS (Credit Card Verification System) now
> >form the Red Hat E-commerce Solutions division of Red Hat. Operations will
> >continue to be based out of Reston, VA. CCVS and Stronghold engineers will
> >be joining us to continue to develop the best open-source ecommerce
> >solution.
> 
> Wow!  This is great news!  Back pats all around!
> 
> Can I inquire how this came about?  I assume a lot was going on in the 
> background when interchange was included in RedHat 7.0, maybe that was the 
> point RedHat really started getting interested.  Were you personally 
> involved in the decision, Mike?

No comment. 8-)

> 
> Also, I have not become too familiar with CCVS yet.  Am I correct in 
> describing it as a credit card transaction service much like Cybercash or 
> Signio?  It also seems that the CCVS software is readily available, and 
> free, but not yet open source.  If I'm correct, then one worry that I might 
> have would be if other payment gateways such as Signio and Cybercash were 
> to fall by the wayside in favor of CCVS (because RedHat would potentially 
> not want to help the competition).  Any fears to be allayed in that respect?

No, the exact opposite. If you get a chance to go to LinuxWorld, you can
take a look at a preview of the next-generation makecat, which will have
fill-in-the-form CyberCash, Signio, and Authorize.net, CCVS, and PGP
support. 

CCVS is more targeted toward high-volume sites that want to cut out the
middleman and get their transaction costs down. 

-- 
Akopia, Inc., 131 Willow Lane, Floor 2, Oxford, OH  45056
phone +1.513.523.7621 fax 7501 <heins@akopia.com>

People who want to share their religious views with you
almost never want you to share yours with them. -- Dave Barry