[nmglug] hmmmm.....

[BrianO'Keefe]

this is an interesting bit of news:


    Whither the SUSE Exodus? Novell’s Linux Business Soars

Thursday, March 8th, 2007By Bryan Richard
<http://www.linux-mag.com/author/124>

The Open Source community has had the opportunity to be extremely vocal
of late. With the Vista launch, <http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2889/> and
Dell's IdeaStorm suggestion box website
<http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2930/> they've had ample chance to flex
their feedback muscles <http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2940/>. Still
neither of these recent events compares to the sheer outrage that the
Microsoft-Novell pact received last year. But as Novell proved last
week, this was an instance of the community being more loud than correct.

When Microsoft and Novell announced their partnership
<http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2596/> last year the OSS community blasted
the pact as a deal with the devil, expressed serious concerns over
patent language in the agreement, and vowed to drop the use of the
distribution /en masse./ Finally, the outrage reached a crescendo when
Samba project lead, Jeremy Allison, left the company
<http://www.linux-mag.com/id/2842/>, saying, "Whilst the Microsoft
patent agreement is in place there is /nothing/ we can do to fix
community relations. And I really mean nothing."

The community could very well be upset but from the look of things, Mr.
Allison may have been the only one leaving Novell behind. Rather, in the
short term, the very opposite has happened. Novell's Linux business
skyrocketed last quarter and in fact is the only part of their business
that appears to be doing well.

The company reported last week that revenue from Linux Platform Products
was up 46% from the same quarter last year to $15M and Linux-related
invoicing was up a staggering 659% to $91M.

While you can't draw a straight line from these increases to the deal
with Microsoft, you have to imagine it had some impact. And certainly
the backlash predicted to take it's pound of flesh from the Linux vendor
never materialized. Why not? Because the agreement with MS didn't impact
the quality of an already popular Linux distribution and paying
customers saw some value in tight ties with the largest software company
in the world. Fear almost certainly didn't drive any new sales for
Novell. When's the last time you cut a check to SCO?

Making a deal with MS was a risky proposition for Novell -- and they're
still working through the kinks. But Novell is a company willing to take
chances. Had Novell not taken the chance on buying SUSE Linux in 2003,
they and their NetWare product suite would likely have been completely
marginalized by now. The deal with Microsoft may just be another one of
those necessary risks they had to take.

Throughout the company's history Novell has had to take big risks
reinventing themselves -- especially when Microsoft nearly put them out
of business in the 90s. That willingness to take chances is a good
thing. Because for a company that lost $20M last quarter overall, it's
going to take more than Microsoft distributing Linux support coupons to
completely turn things around.

Bryan Richard <http://www.linux-mag.com/author/124> is the Editorial
Director of Linux Magazine.