01.04.07

Novell Talks Red Hat, Still Sidles With Microsoft

Posted in FUD, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Novell, Red Hat, SLES/SLED at 12:56 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Competition is a funny thing when one’s friend becomes a foe and one’s sworn enemy suddenly becomes a friend. It appears as though Novell’s rivals these days are only Linux distributers. Having taken off all comparisons with Microsoft Windows from its Web site [1, 2], Novell has moved on to speaking about the weaknesses of GNU/Linux that’s not developed under Microsoft’s iron fist, so to speak. I have just caught the following article from Salt Lake Tribune:

Novell spokesman Kevan Barney said the downfall of Red Hat’s Fedora Legacy Project only strengthens Novell’s commitment to its own partnership with open-source, or free, software developers worldwide.

“What has happened with Fedora does not affect what we are doing with our Open Systems Project,” he said. “We have over 30,000 registered members. The project is doing quite well.”

Novell offers its own Suse Linux product line, but it differs from a companion, free-to-download Open Suse version only in the level of technical support and the stability required for each generation of retail editions.

There is not much to be seen here, but it seems evident that Novell is after Red Hat’s customers while it remains obedient to (READ: scared of) and ‘plays nice’ with Microsoft. It is a case of Linux fighting Linux, which is precisely what Microsoft sought to achieve when striking this deal, also paying a lump of money for easier persuasion. The divisive nature of the deal—that which separates customers from the developers community—is another harmful side-effect. It ought to bother you that only months ago, Ron Hovespian complained about Microsoft’s business practices. Here is what he said before befriending Microsoft:

“Microsoft Corp is using scare tactics to exert pressure on PC vendors not to explore the potential of desktop Linux, according to Novell Inc president and COO, Ron Hovsepian”

In other news, about Novell:

Just a bit of credit where it’s due. We consider this site to be impartial, not rebellious. We aspire to discover stories and facts that escape the attention or interest of mainstream press. If you can offer any contributions or stories we have missed, be sure to contact us. We would like our loyal readers to drive the site, rather than let it be controlled by editors. Let us make use of the wisdom of the crowds.

Addendum: here’s another new article which fits the theme of this post. It’s titled “Novell CTO Touts ‘Mixed Source’ Strategy, Takes Jab At Red Hat“.

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Novell, the Windows Complement

Posted in Deals, Finance, Microsoft, Novell at 11:05 am by Shane Coyle

In addition to the rumors of a possible acquisition by Novell, there is this from Notable Calls:

Jefferies has an interesting note on Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) saying that as the company attempts to breathe life into its software business, they believe a re-positioning of the company as a Windows complement is probable. Recent SLES coupon activations are a beginning, and m&a could play a significant role.

Firm’s checks indicate a tightening relationship between Novell and Microsoft, both technologically and strategically.

Even financial types are having trouble seeing any distinction between Microsoft and Novell any longer. ;^ )

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Novell Could Buy a Virtualisation Company

Posted in Novell, Virtualisation, Xen at 4:08 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

With one major deal, another could soon follow. You may wish to head over to InforWorld’s Open Sources where Matt Asay speculates that Novell will acquire XenSource or Altiris with the money it has received from Microsoft. XenSource is already collaborating with Microsoft (at least to at some level of capacity) and I suspect it has a new branch of operation in Redmond, WA. Its recent commercial moves seem to make this merger/acquisition probable.

XenSource, Inc., the leader in infrastructure virtualization solutions based on the open source Xen hypervisor, today announced XenEnterprise for Windows and Linux, the market’s first commercially-packaged Xen virtualization solution supporting both Microsoft Windows and Linux guests.

If a merger as such (takeover rather, due to scale differences) ever became a reality, it would have a negative effect on rivalling GNU/Linux distributors such as Red Hat and Mandriva.

Note: We apologise for a downtime that was experienced earlier today. We have good reasons to suspect that there are/were malicious hacking attempts. We are still investigating this incident.

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