Maritz is the key force behind a start-up called PI Corporation that promises to strengthen the Linux desktop with software that’ll make it easy to access personal information because it’s always available, independent of any personal device and gettable from anywhere.

The provocative PI, which, come to find out, stands for personal information, intends to leverage broadband connectivity and advanced encryption to create, repurpose, store, share and access personal information “in novel ways,” whatever that means.

Evidently whatever PI’s “new approach to software” is, it leverages cheap PCs and serves both corporate and mainstream personal information users.

Besides Maritz’ money, PI’s other backer is Warburg Pincus, which has got seemingly bottomless pockets and is usually in for the long-term and the big bucks.

PI is setting up its design and development center in - where else - Bangalore and will use the infrastructure services of another ex-Microserf-owned outfit called Aditi Technologies before it builds its core team. Presumably, Maritz and Aditi CEO Pradeep Singh knew each other at Microsoft.

PI plans to release its software on multiple OS platforms in both free open source and licensed versions a la MySQL. Maybe, if there’s customer demand, it says, it’ll eventually do Windows.