Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Servers

    Novell, Red Hat Staking New Linux Territory

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    November 10, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The bold operating system moves made last week by Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. create a new battleground in the consolidating Linux space and leave each company with a host of new challenges.

      Novells $210 million purchase of SuSE Linux AG is the vendors second acquisition this year, following the purchase of open-source developer Ximian Inc. in August. A sweetener to this deal is that IBM plans to take a $50 million stake in Novell, of Provo, Utah.

      IBM and Novell are negotiating extensions to existing agreements between IBM and SuSE for the support of SuSE Linux on IBMs eServer products.

      Prior to Novells SuSE announcement, Red Hat, of Raleigh, N.C., e-mailed customers announcing the company would no longer update its consumer Red Hat Linux line after April. The move automatically gave Novell a leg up in the consumer and desktop Linux space.

      Although Red Hat intends to push customers to Red Hats Enterprise Linux server and workstation software, which carries an annual subscription fee, some said the move is misguided.

      “Desktops are used by enterprise customers,” said Stacy Quandt, an analyst at the Open Source Development Lab, in Beaverton, Ore. “Red Hat is considering the desktop a consumer play and not looking at the adoption of desktops in enterprises. Thats a big disadvantage.”

      But its a disadvantage Novell itches to exploit.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEKs interview with Novell CEO Jack Messman SuSE Linux CEO Richard Seibt.

      Thats because the SuSE deal gives Novell a viable alternative to Red Hat, based on technical and financial merits, Quandt said. In fact, Novell has the potential to replace Red Hat as the leading Linux distributor in the United States, she said.

      But while Novell customers and resellers welcome the move to shore up the companys Linux offerings, they believe the open-source development process has its downside.

      “With NetWare, Novell was in control of their own software development destiny,” said John Kretz, president of Enlightened Point Consulting Group LLC, in Phoenix, which runs NetWare, Windows 2000 and Red Hat systems. “But now Novell will find itself held against the double-edged sword of open source: They may own SuSE, but they dont control the kernel development.”

      “I wonder how long it will be before that starts eating away at Novell, waiting for Linus [Torvalds] to bless features and releases,” Kretz said. “I wonder if Novell will ultimately have the guts to fork the Linux kernel development and start their own branch.”

      Donald Barber, a senior technical support specialist for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Enterprise IT delivery department, is enthusiastic about the move, saying Novell has proved that it has the skills to produce solutions that solve key business issues. The migration to Linux was a natural progression to provide the stability and functionality of NetWare on the proven, solid Linux platform, Barber said.

      “This deal has increased our desire to begin pursuing a Novell/Linux solution. The migration that has taken place from NetWare to Windows is nothing more than customers responding to well-advertised misinformation regarding the benefits of Microsoft [Corp.] products,” Barber said.

      Novell officials said the network services in NetWare 7, the next version of the product, will work on the Linux and NetWare kernels. Novell will also offer its network services, Nterprise, on Linux. The first release of that is due next month, with the second release following six to nine months later and containing all the services in NetWare 6.5 today on top of Linux, officials said.

      Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×