Novell: Were Not Dumping NetWare

SAN FRANCISCO—Novell Inc. dismissed reports that it is planning to phase out new NetWare development in favor of Linux.

A Novell executive Wednesday told eWEEK that the Provo, Utah, company has no plans of cutting NetWare development in favor of Linux, as some reports had indicated.

Chris Stone, vice chairman of the company, said NetWare will continue in maintenance mode, comments Novell officials said were taken out of context.

/zimages/6/26680.gifChris Stone speaks out on Ximian, Microsoft and SCO. Read his interview with Microsoft Watch.

"Were into Linux, thats why were here," said a Novell executive, who asked not to be identified. "Thats why we bought Ximian. And we said that with Version 7.0 youll have a choice of either upgrading to the NetWare base or moving to Linux. But with $400 million of our revenue in NetWare, that would be ridiculous for us to abandon development on it."

Bruce Lowry, top spokesman for Novell, said, "The bottom line is no. The whole thing with Linux is an additive thing. Were not dumping NetWare, were adding Linux."

In a statement, Jack Messman, chairman, president and chief executive of Novell, addressed the issue firmly. "A recent news report coming out of the LinuxWorld Conference suggests that Novell is considering stopping development of NetWare. Were not," he said. "Despite Novells firm and frequent statements concerning continued development and support for NetWare, discussion of Novells Linux strategy invariably leads to concern over Novells NetWare commitment. Let us put those concerns to rest.

"We have also announced that NetWare 7.0 is in development, that it will run on both the NetWare and Linux kernels, and that we will have more to say on it when it is appropriate. This is hardly a sign of reduced commitment. NetWare is not going away. Period," Messman said in his statement.

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