With Redhat's official entry into China last month, Novell (NOVL) is trying to retain an adequate Chinese market share by providing US$2 million of free Novell Linux computing products to universities.

This is the second time that Novell has tried to enter the market. In early 2003 Novell had to retreat after encountering personnel problems, and Novell's latest release of free software is sure to impress government regulatory authorities and past Chinese users of the open source operating system.

The company has also chosen Beijing Kaichuang Open Source Software Company as its local partner.