Comments on: Dana Blankenhorn: Novell is ‘Massaging’ Its Financial Figures

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:00:27 +0000

I can’t speak to the financial massaging. However he got a few things wrong. Novell does not have good PR. Second, what’s “without delivering anything worthwhile” about? SLED 10 is much better than Suse Pro 9.3. SLED is considered by some to be the most polished distro available. Is it really? Well, that’s a matter of opinion of course. And finally, Novell doesn’t deliver quality software? What’s he basing that on? What metrics does he use?

My point is, there’s plenty to rip Novell for, but throwing shit against a wall and hoping something sticks isn’t good “reporting” or blogging in this case.

By: Roy Schestowitz

Roy Schestowitz — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:09:54 +0000

Thank you for at least referring to substance rather than engaging in personal attacks this time.

Let’s remember that Novell reported a loss (narrower than expected though) and also remember that surveys show Novell staying flat (according to one company’s figures) while Red Hat continues to rise sharply.

Novell cannot grow its Linux business as quickly as its ‘legacy’ income declines. It has money to spend (roughly a billion dollars) and it is willing to spend it on acquisitions, not buybacks, based on Ron Hovsepian’s relatively recent interview. Based on that same interview, Novell has cut down its R&D budget. So, are we seeing a growing company? for all I can tell, Novell is the next Unisys. What’s worse, this dinosaur liaised with Microsoft to guarantee its imminent extinction. Until then, Novell will be nothing but an abused tool for Microsoft to milk.

By: Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:54:32 +0000

Just goes to show how wrong some of your readers can be then doesn’t it? A shill, I am not.

I enjoy reading commentary about Novell and other IT vendors, but I tire of fud-spreading, self-regarding, self-publicising people like you.

From reading [proper] analysts reports of Novell’s Q3 performance, they have delivered a slightly stronger than anticipated quarter. Haven’t set the world on fire, but didn’t set an expectation that they would, or that they wouldn’t. That’s pretty much it, is Dana annoyed that Novell delivered a slightly stronger than anticipated quarter? Apparently so. And then asserts, that it’s all smoke and mirrors, it’s “fishy”. Companies in a post-Enron world, don’t post fishy numbers. They are just the numbers.

Saying something like “very fishy”, without any substance to back that up, is just FUD. You then go on – “There is no room for opinion here…” Of course there is… that’s just a plain stupid thing to say. Doesn’t the make up of the numbers warrant questions like: Is this a good result for Novell, or a bad result?

“Given Novell’s inability to compete with Red Hat…” You defeat yourself at every turn. Do you have any idea which customers have, and are planning to adopt Suse Linux as a replacment for Red Hat? Clearly not.

Tiresome, ill-informed posts like this just serve to remind me to review my SPAM filters…

By: Roy Schestowitz

Roy Schestowitz — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:04:59 +0000

Alec Baldwin, your past comments here were a case of trolling, which makes your counter argument weak. If I recall correctly, readers suspected that you were a shill.

By: Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:56:42 +0000

Clueless drivel. If you or Dana had any idea what you were talking about, I’d listen harder. But it’s clear from your posts that you simply have no idea what has been going on at Novell, and what is going on at Novell.

FUD