Open-source vendor Red Hat is expected to announce, at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo which opens today in San Francisco, subscription-service Java. With the addition of Java server support in addition to its Linux offering, the company adds to its programming tools. Pricing was not released although it has been speculated cost will be in line with its Linux subscription.

Since last August, Red Hat said it would be developing an open source Java application with France-based ObjectWeb. The nonprofit middleware consortium developed the open source application served which Red Hat will use. Called JOnAS (Java Open Application Server), it is built around the prevailing Java sever J2EE.

Analysts do not expect that Red Hat's announcement will have the same impact as Red Hat entry into Linux servers. Dana Gardner, an analyst at The Yankee Group, said, "What this does is offer a department-level application server that is pretty bare-bones. It is not a fully integrated deployment platform."

Red Hat's move will put it in direct competition with the leading open source Java server vendor, JBoss. Along with clustering software Red Hat will introduce, JOnAS will be part of its Open Source Architecture bundle for servers running on Linux.