A couple of weeks ago, Novell's CEO stated that the number of collaborations with Microsoft were expected to roughly triple. In other words, those who believe they have seen Microsoft and Novell getting closer have plenty left to witness. How long before Novell just becomes a part of Microsoft?
Microsoft and Novell Deliver Joint Virtualization Solution Through Partners
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Supported by Dell and other channel partners, solution includes SUSE Linux Enterprise Server running as optimized guest on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V.
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The virtualization solution is the first to include technology developed by both companies at their joint Interoperability Lab, including virtual machine adapters built to optimize SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as an optimized, or often referred to as enlightened, guest operating system on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, providing optimized performance to SUSE Linux guests.
inux and Windows working nicely together might not be the dream scenario for Linux purists committed to a Microsoft-free world. Indeed, there are some who will likely slam this development as little more that Microsoft hype and hoo-hah.
It also comes at an opportune time for Novell, which is trying to differentiate itself from competitor Red Hat and its virtualization offerings.
Depth of partnership with Microsoft
The depth of our partnership with Microsoft is the significant. Some of the key aspects of this partnership are:
- Technical collaboration as part of our original agreement. This was broad covering many areas: documents, directory, management, and virtualization
- A joint laboratory in Cambridge, MA to work on interoperability
- An expansion of this technical collaboration into new areas. This includes the Moonlight project for the Silverlight framework and accessibility.
- Bolstering the technical collaboration by building companion offers. A great example is our Advanced Management Pack for Linux.
Regular meetings at working levels and executive levels to understand customer problems and explore where additional interoperability is required.
--Steve Ballmer 2007
Comments
pcole
2008-09-11 10:44:43
Ballmer said "GNU/Linux is a cancer". Careful what you say 'cause who's the cancer now. Everything MS touches, (this way of being goes for politicians; especially the US) it infects and corrupts. MS has never innovated anything. They consistently keep copying, mostly crApple, stealing ideas of others (FOSS),and continuing its anti-competitivness through branding (OEM-bundling). Novell's collaboration is opening FOSS's door to MS pollution. This is the stain with which novell will be known for.
mpz
2008-09-11 23:19:02
But seriously, who in their right mind would really want to virtualise Linux on top of Windows anyway? `the best optimised linux under windows' - wow, what an under-achievement. That's like trying to sell `The Best fruit cake you can make with rotten eggs', or `The best house you can build with an unstable foundation'. It seriously undermines Novell's own history and self-interest, and shows the top-level management to be greedy and short-sighted and maybe worse. And that's just Novell - it's a complete kick in the face to SUSE and anyone who supported it throughout the years.
I wonder if Windows has become an 'enlightened' host on SUSE? Or is the traffic only going one way? Or perhaps it is only 'enlightened' when running on Windows?
Hmm. First they copy someone else's innovative idea/buy up the competition - check. It will be open enough that things will work ok with other implementations - check. Then they'll 'tweak' it so theirs works the best - or rather, they'll claim it works the best (i.e. at that stage now) - check. Then they'll test to see if they're running on their implementation - and if not ... oh suddenly things become a bit unstable, or just slower (maybe we're already at that stage). Sigh. We've been here before - it's the same old model. They can't even innovate with the way they distort the market and keep everyone in the dark ages (hmm, yes, very apt - they are the Catholic Church of IT). Actually Novell have been here before - and vowed never to repeat it. So they're not the only ones who cannot learn.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-09-11 23:29:08
Ron Hovsepian commented on this issue before. He said that part of his agreement with Microsoft was that SUSE would run only as a guest. I will need to check my noted and references to give a more accurate answer though.
Jose_X
2008-09-12 00:38:20
Linux works for competing vendors because it has its source code open. If we can't nail down the Microsoft protocols, we should focus on those protocols that we can and do nail down.
Novell Linux is the Linux to help you find your way back onto the treadmill. Microsoft certifies it.
Jose_X
2008-09-12 00:51:21
If Novell is under contract to keep Microsoft software in the best position, who does Novell think they are going to convince to give Linux a real shot later on? What is more likely to happen is that these customers will think Linux is a fraud and too costly to babysit after, and "if this Linux (Novell's certified Linux) has the problems it has, how much worse might the others that are not certified be?"
To get a taste of Linux without brokenness, you have to leave the Microsoft fold because Linux and Microsoft software will always have problems interoperating since Microsoft has no business giving up business to Linux vendors when it's totally within their control to create problems between these two platforms (Microsoft sees our code but we don't see theirs).
You have to use Linux tools across the board to see how it can really perform. And to undertake this challenging task (challenging if you are new to Linux), you need to work with vendors/partners that are focused on Linux and not on playing games with Microsoft.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-09-12 06:18:07