Media and Internet titan AOL Time Warner is in negotiations to acquire Red Hat, a distributor of the alternative computer operating system Linux, the Washington Posthas reported.
The talks were fluid and it was unclear how much AOL, which runs the biggest US Internet service provider and the second-largest US cable television system, would pay for Red Hat, the newspaper said.
Red Hat is the leading distributor of Linux, which unlike software such as rival Microsoft Windows operating system, is an "open source" platform that anyone can change to suit their needs.
Spokespeople for the three companies declined to comment on the negotiations, the newspaper reported.
Linux has gained growing favor with businesses, especially to power the heavy-duty server computers that dish up web pages and run corporate networks.
The attempted acquisition is the latest indication that AOL is seeking alternative software to that made by rival Microsoft, the maker of Windows which runs 90 per cent of the world's personal computers, the Washington Postsaid.
To counter Microsoft, AOL could couple its Internet service with Red Hat's operating system technology and could be configured to override Windows while launching a version of Linux, sources told the newspaper.