01.09.07
Is Novell the New SCO?
In a posting on Groklaw regarding SCO v. Novell, Novell is demanding the lions’ share of the Microsoft and SUN license revenues, since it appears that SCO was selling something that didn’t belong to them. One notable statement in the filing is this statement by Novell:
For SCO, bankruptcy is inevitable; it characterizes its assets as merely those "remaining" and does not rebut Novell’s arguments that its bankruptcy is imminent.
The question has already been asked, but will Novell acquire SCO’s assets? Tom Yager believes so, in a posting where he theorizes that the Microvell cartel could be colluding against Apple (and everyone else, for that matter) in the x86 server market.
Microsoft bought its way out of Novell v Microsoft, I think, by pretty much ceding majority share of the x86 enterprise server market to Novell. The deal, which Microsoft announced as a partnership, is a real ankle-grabber: a) Microsoft will give 70,000 licenses of SuSE Linux Enterprise Server to Windows server customers, b) Microsoft will let Novell ride along on sales calls, c) Microsoft waives its right to sue Novell over intellectual property, and d) well, the D is not something that Microsoft is handing over. But it’s an awfully big D.
Novell is going to take back ownership of System V UNIX. It supposedly transferred this to SCO, but a Federal Judge found that the contracts had more holes than paper. Novell has leave to contest the agreements, and if SCO goes belly-up while the matter is in debate, Novell’s there to snatch up a very valuable property.
Novell’s management is almost entirely new appointees, with only Hovsepian and LaSala with more than 18 months tenure. Recent financial moves by the company seem to have a familiar feeling, is Novell the new SCO?
Update (Roy):
There are two new items that fit rather well into this discussion. In the first, Dana deal with Novell’s ‘inheritance’ of SCO’s issues.
If this is the end it seems to leave Novell in a curious position. In its deal with Microsoft, Novell appears to have granted Microsoft the power to claim that Microsoft holds the same kinds of rights to Linux that SCO claimed, and fourth quarter downloads indicate that many customers are taking those claims seriously.
You can now brace yourself for what could prove to be SCO’s ‘judgment day’.
In conjunction with the financial results press release, the company will also host a conference call that same day at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss the Company’s results.
Update #2 (Roy): SCO Responds to Novell FUD
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