Novell: Linux turns up the heat on Microsoft
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Novell chief executive Jack Messman sat down with ZDNet UK on Monday at BrainShare in Barcelona, and gave a typically combative take on the current state of the software industry.
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Corporate IT users are getting caught in the middle of another spin war between Microsoft Corp. and the Linux and Unix communities, most recently Novell Inc.
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Strong words  the likes of which the industry has heard before  accompanied Novell Inc.&#39;s release of its next-generation Linux desktop for enterprise customers, Novell Linux Desktop 9, powered by SUSE Linux.
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Not since SCO has there been a company so reviled by the open source community as Novell following its deal with Microsoft.  Already there are some clear signs of the negative effects of that anger: senior coders have left the company; Novell has posted a loss for the most recent quarter; and there are calls for a boycott of Novell products â to say nothing of imminent changes to the GNU GPL that might well nullify the entire Novell-Microsoft deal.  Some people are rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of Novell crashing and burning completely, but such a development could actually turn out to be one of the worst things to happen to free software.
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Are you convinced that Windows environments are less expensive to own and operate than Linux computers? Martin Taylor, the manager behind Microsoftâs anti-Linux strategy, believes the companyâs Get The
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Microsoft France asked the head of the Mono project at Novell to demonstrate Silverlight running on Linux.
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Linux users don't believe claims by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that the open-source OS infringes on Microsoft's intellectual property. In fact, Ballmer's comments are making them mad.
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Novell has spent years battling Microsoft. Maybe this time it will work.
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Many experts say Linux and open-source software is your biggest threat. But is your real competitor a desire for an alternative to Microsoft, rather than any particular product?
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At the BrainShare Conference in Barcelona , Spain , Novell chairman and CEO Jack Messman talked up Linux and renewed his company&#39;s attack on rival Microsoft.
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After announcing a $536 million cash infusion by Microsoft, Novell has unveiled its desktop operating system for businesses - based on Linux. Built atop SuSE Enterprise Server, Novell Desktop Linux 9 features leading open source applications such as OpenOffice.org and Firefox alongside enterprise features.
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It is with regret that I urge all FOSS developers to treat anything Novell has contributed to the community as suspect, scrutinize any Novell contributions and purge them as deemed appropriate.  This threat is real, and it is not necessarily contingent upon whether or not Microsoft would actually sue customers for patent infringements.  This is a classic case of posturing.  Novell is leveraging its agreement with Microsoft in a way that harms all other Linux distributions and other FOSS projects. It is actively exploiting its unique position in ways that seem beneficial, but will pose risks to anyone but its own customers (and even their own customers are only protected for the next five years).
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Novell, responding to Steve Ballmer&#39;s latest attack on Linux, is accusing Microsoft of selectively using biased reports to back up its claims.
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Novell launches Web site to defend open-source software.
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Officially official Microsoft has extended its controversial partnership with Novell to make the Silverlight cross-platform, cross-browser media player run on Linux desktops.â¦
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Novell&#39;s promise of a blended Linux and NetWare networking environment became reality with the recent launch of the public beta of Open Enterprise Server (OES).
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(InfoWorld) - Novell on Wednesday said its deal with Microsoft is helping drive gains in its Linux business, but danced around questions concerning how that deal may be altered given coming changes in open source licensing.Novell made the comments during its quarterly earnings call with financial analysts where the company reported nearly a $2.2 million loss in income during its fiscal second quarter. Novell executives danced around questions concerningÂ its deal with MicrosoftÂ as it relates to the new GNU General Public License 3.0, which is expected to be approved as a final draft in June. In addition, Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian would offer no comment beyond Novell's already published public statement on Microsoft'sÂ recent claimsÂ that Linux infringes on 235 of its patents. During its earnings call, Novell focused on the news that its revenue was up 2.6 percent to $239.2 million from $233.1 million during the same quarter a year ago, and that the revenue numbers beat Wall Street's expectations of $235 million. Net income, however, showed a loss of $2.192 million compared to a profit of $3,342 million in the same quarter a year ago. Despite the numbers, Novell executives remained upbeat, highlighting an increase in sales around its Suse Linux software. Sales of Linux platform products produced $19 million in revenue, an 83 percent increase year over year. In addition, invoicing for Linux products was $29 million for the quarter, an increase of 114 percent. Novell said those increases were largely due to the strength of a wide-ranging business and technology partnership signed with Microsoft in November 2006. Microsoft helped account for $18 million of that invoicing, while non-Microsoft-influenced revenue was $11 million. "I am pleased by our results this quarter," said Ron Hovsepian, Novell's CEO. "Our Linux business delivered another strong quarter, workgroup [business unit] performed better than expected and identity [business unit] is recovering although it is still below plan. Novell said revenue for identity and access management was up 5 percent over the same quarter a year ago. But it was Linux and the relationship with Microsoft that Novell focused on, saying it provided a hefty bump to revenue. "Customer deals associated with the Microsoft relationship accounted for 25 percent of the Linux platform product revenue," said Dana Russell, Novell's CFO. Hovsepian said in the two fiscal quarters since signing the deal with Microsoft that Novell has invoiced $91 million in sales with $73 million occurring in the first quarter. He said that total was nearly 38 percent of the $240 million that was called for in the five-year deal with Microsoft. He also said that Novell expects to have 49,000 certificates for maintenance and support, which are handed out by Microsoft, activated this year. He added, however, that going forward Novell would no longer report that number. Instead, Novell will track progress by reporting the percentage of invoicing over the life of the contract. As part of the agreement, Microsoft had said it would distribute 70,000 coupons for Suse Linux Enterprise Server maintenance and support. In terms of the patent claims Microsoft has made in recent weeks, Hovsepian said Novell would focus on customers and said statements it made in an open letter to the Linux community would stand as its public comment. He also was mum on the effect of the forthcoming open-source GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0, which couldÂ change the dynamicsÂ of the patent protection clause that is part of the agreement with Microsoft.Novell said in a 10-K filing it made with the Security and Exchange Commission last week that there was a risk factor in the "grandfather" clause that is currently part of the working draft of the GPL 3.0. Hovsepian said during a question and answer session that he would not answer questions about what effects the grandfather clause may have on Novell's contract with Microsoft saying any answer would be "broad speculation." Other numbers highlighted by Novell included revenue from its Identity and Access Management business unit of $23 million, a 5 percent year-over-year increase. The company reported that revenue from Systems and Resource Management unit was $32 million, a 4 percent drop over the same quarter a year ago, and that revenue from its Workgroup business unit dropped 4 percent compared to the second quarter of 2006 to $84 million. Going forward, Novell stated that it expects net revenue for 2007 to be between $925 million and $955 million. Those numbers were adjusted to account for the recent divestment of its Salmon business consulting group.