By Stephen Shankland
Monday, February 12 2007 10:12 AM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,61989211,00.htm

As expected, JBoss founder Marc Fleury has left Red Hat less than a year after the Linux seller acquired his open-source Java server software company.

"Marc Fleury has decided to leave Red Hat to pursue other personal interests, such as teaching, research in biology, music and his family," Red Hat said in a statement Friday.

Red Hat's JBoss acquisition was completed in June 2006, providing competition with products from partners such as IBM and Oracle. Red Hat has said it's on track to meet revenue goals from the new software.

Fleury's move is no surprise. When he went on paternity leave in early December, he sent a note to close colleagues that said, in part, "I am increasingly experiencing diminishing returns on my emotional and professional investments at Red Hat... Working with all of you at JBoss has been a pleasure and probably the apex of my short career."

The executive is known for being outspoken and sometimes prickly, but in Friday's statement, Fleury was more diplomatic.

"I have done what I can to help Red Hat succeed," Fleury said. "People need to understand that open source is a tsunami that is transforming the software industry in its wake, and its inevitability is now well beyond challenge or the force of individual personality."