Redmond Linux was founded in the the year 2000 by Joseph Cheek, an entrepreneur who had previously worked for both
Microsoft and
Linuxcare[?]. In late 2001 it merged with embedded systems company DeepLinux; the merged entity was named Redmond Linux Corporation. The company's first product was Redmond Linux Personal, an easy-to-use
Linux desktop operating system.
The company was renamed Lycoris in January 2002.