Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell/Microsoft Deal -- The Success That Wasn't

Watch this:

Microsoft-Novell: Has Their Deal Made a Difference?

Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff sees little impact.

"Overall, it's hard to see a lot of impact to date in the sense that there haven't been major market share shifts among any of the major players," Haff said.

451 Group analyst Matthew Aslett is on the same side of the fence, noting that the overall impact of the agreement has not been as great as people might have expected, or feared, depending on their point of view.

"Microsoft's purchase of $240 million worth of support certificates for joint customers produced a boost for Novell's Linux revenue, but it doesn't appear to have had any impact on Red Hat's business," Aslett told InternetNews.com.

A Red Hat spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Beyond the business impact there is the interoperability side of the equation to consider, as well.

"There could still be some long-term impact from the interoperability initiatives around virtualization, as well as systems and identity management, but it could be some time before customers see the results," Aslett said.


Matt Aslett and Gordon Haff rightly point out that there's little real change. They must be aware of the 'coupon effect', which is bound to run out of steam fairly soon. Novell uses its temporary stock of coupons to make itself appear like a growth company, which it is not (jobs are being axed, for starters).

The analysts above do not merely drink the Redmond-Waltham Kool-Aid (joint press releases or PR pitch, which are sometimes parroted by journalists very blindly). In the case of Matt, also knows that Microsoft is deceiving the press (just watch what Susan Hauser did there). It's nice to see that a journalist who has turned into an analyst maintained the same position, based on his own expriences as a reporter.

eWeek has another article on this topic. It is summarised as follows:

One year after former arch-rivals Microsoft and Novell partner up, what has resulted from their alliance?


Peter Galli, in my eyes at least, is one whose credibility is becoming a tad iffy after biased reporting and a big mistake in an article about virtualisation (misquoting Sam Ramji). Nonetheless, here is anohter article from eWeek.

Microsoft and Novell are using the one-year anniversary of their interoperability agreement to tout the increasing number of enterprise customers who are signing up because of the benefits offered through the collaboration.


The article talks about 30 new customers that signed up for "Microsoft's Linux Support Coupons". I've received an anonymous leak from one of these potential "new customers" and I am detemined to finally reveal how Microsoft and Novell -- just like a couple of hounds -- use FUD and other tricks to market themselves. It's an anti-Mandriva/Red Hat/Ubuntu deal. That's what it is. Microsoft is still trying to buy the market, essentially by 'bribing' or pressuring Linux distributors to defect and pay 'tax' for nothing of any substance.

Novell coupons warning



This is utterly disturbing because Novell and Microsoft are willing to share the flesh of a Free software corpse. Later on, Microsoft will eliminate Novell as well. History teaches us that lesson.

”When the coupons finally run out, Novell will begin selling its body.“I might be able to bring out the details about Novell approaching a company while hiding the company's identity. This requires careful work, so it will probably be posted late in the weekend (if at all).

Remember this: Novell's coupsons are worthless. Those coupons won't last (they are limited) and they represent a case where Novell needs Microsoft's 'permission' to sell GNU/Linux. Novell is now too dependent on (and thus loyal to) Microsoft. Just look at Novell's treatment of OOXML, for example. When the coupons finally run out, Novell will begin selling its body. It will be lucky to stay a 5,000-employee work[h|k]force because Microsoft devours its legacy business.

It didn't have to be like this. Novell did it to itself. It sold out.

Sellout



Related items:

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft is Shedding Off Loads of Staff and That Can be Dangerous Too
Working for Microsoft is a choice; nobody forces you to do it
Richard Stallman and the Unix Philosophy
When asked about systemd people must remember that RMS speaks as an active Board member of the FSF and also the founder of the FSF
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
 
Approaching 10,000 Articles/Pages Since Going Static
Trying to silence or derail the site was always a dumb strategy
Windows Falls to New Lows in Nicaragua, Now Below a Quarter (It Used to be Almost 100%)
Another all-time low for Windows
The Cost (to Linux) of LLM Slop
Slop 'artists' like Fagioli are far from harmless
Links 25/04/2025: Ubisoft Spyware, Hegseth Fails at Tech on Every Level
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Food Forest Update and Facebook Destroying the Net
Links for the day
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025