First we had the analysts, but now we have some concrete figures and facts.

Novell earnings come up short

"Overall these are disappointing results," said Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert, citing the lower-than-expected quarterly sales figure and Novell's 2007 sales outlook.

Novell used to have the Linux community by its side. I used to be a huge Novell and SUSE advocate myself. With its declining lagacy products, there is not much that can save Novell now. It is hard to imagine that the sentiments throughout the community will encourage acquisition of Novell's Linux products. More intersting, Novell is killing the very same company that it is presently becoming.

SCO shares closed Monday at $1.11, down 11 cents and 9 percent from last Friday's trading. The company's stock has been in freefall since Kimball's ruling, dropping from $2.40 per share. SCO stock had traded above $4.50 before Wells' earlier decision in June.

Maybe SCO will find sympathy in today's news. Novell seems to inherit its place and share the same problem. SCO has malicious intent, while Novell is just being naive.

I suspect it is too late to tell Novell to wake up and retract. It has already fallen too deep into this unhealthy relationship which emptied its soul.