Immunix Inc. was originally called WireX, and much of the research that went into early development of Immunix Linux was funded by DARPA. The company changed its name in 2003, and no longer receives federal research monies, but survives on a combination of cash generated through product sales and venture capital backing.
The Immunix Linux distribution never became profitable. A big reason for this may have been competition from NSA's Security-Enhanced Linux, which had about the biggest name there is in electronic security behind it and started getting all the Linux "security buzz" almost from the day it was released.
Rego says competition from SELinux made Immunix marketing "a challenge." CTO (and Immunix co-founder) Crispin Cowan sounds a tad bitter when he talks of how much easier Immunix is to install and administer than SELinux. "More people need to try the two of them side by side," he says.
Neither Rego nor Cowan mentions another factor: Commercial Immunix costs $995, with a premium version that includes added support running $1,495, while SELinux is freely downloadable. Not only that, a free version of Immunix is available, too.
The most recent version of the Immunix OS, 7.3, was released in December, 2003, and it looks like it will be the last standalone one released, although Rego says the company will continue to support current users. (The press release in the previous link specifically promises support for Immunix 7.3 through March 2005.)
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