We wrote about Novell's steep slides earlier today and yesterday. The results are finally in.

The company reported a loss of $16.3 million, or 5 cents per share in the fourth-quarter ended Oct 31, compared with a loss of $17.9 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier when it had more shares outstanding.

The stock is up after trading hours (having already taken a big tumble, declining by over 6% today), but reasons for optimism are probably a relative thing. Novell's stock is approximately half the value it used to be not so long ago. The revenue continues to decline because regardless of the Linux business, Netware is a dying technology. Market Watch reports.

The company reported a loss of 5 cents a share from continuing operations. Revenue slid marginally to $244.7 million from $244.9 million, the provider of open source software for businesses said.

Stay tuned for a more detailed analysis. It's important to remember that Microsoft is propping up Novell because it's helpful to Microsoft in its fight against Free software and GNU/Linux. It's just like SCO. ⬆

"On the same day that CA blasted SCO, Open Source evangelist Eric Raymond revealed a leaked email from SCO's strategic consultant Mike Anderer to their management. The email details how, surprise surprise, Microsoft has arranged virtually all of SCO's financing, hiding behind intermediaries like Baystar Capital."

--Bruce Perens