Novell

[Mike Needham]

so basically, we wait around and SuSE comes back on the market and some KC 
firm buys them then?  I actually hold out hope that they leave SuSE as a good 
solid distro that it is... as most of you know, just adopted it... like it... 
figures.

Anyhow, Novell once made me a lot of money, and so did Microsoft, but today I 
am not selling either!  I am worried that SuSE magically becomes Novell Linux 
would be a very hard to swallow pill for me.   On the other hand, I think it 
pre-mature to call Ximian and SuSE dead at this point... Do we need to keep 
our eyes on it?  YOU BET.  Hopefully though, Novell has enough sense to 
listen to the users that make SuSE a good purchase in the first place!

Again, these are my own opinions and I am not intending to step on anyone's 
veiwpoint, but I am very leary of the future of SuSE.

On Wednesday 05 November 2003 09:27, Garrett Goebel wrote:
> Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
> > Novell must really be complimented for even existing today.
> > They have let so very many oportunities pass through their
> > hands it's amazing that they haven't gone the way of Lotus,
> > WordPerfect, and Smartware, but they soldier on.
>
> Novell exists because it has a solid product which customers are loathe to
> leave. Engineering over marketing. And it is sad to say, but they could use
> a little more marketing. You don't hear many stories about people adopting
> Novell products... But those who haven't already jumped ship, aren't likely
> to any time soon. At least as long as Novell offers a decent upgrade path.
>
> > I really wish that we had seen SuSE buy Novell instead of
> > Novell buying SUSE, but maybe SUSE still has enough strength
> > to really change how things are done at Novell.
>
> The press releases say "acquired". I'd say Ximian and SuSE will have a 1 to
> 2 year honeymoon, and if the cash doesn't start flowing into the coffers,
> it'll be back to business as usual. I do hope Novell's management can steer
> the difficult path of enabling SuSE and Ximian to succeed without shooting
> themselves in the foot through mismanagement and corporate culture clash.
> In any event, SuSE and Ximian are dead. Whether or not they are successful
> and politic enough to merge into and influence Novell's management remains
> to be seen.
>
> > That would be great - it would really be cool for a
> > company that once had the strength to teach Microsoft about
> > arrogance come back and offer real inovation and realistic
> > alternatives in the personal an office computing arena again.
>
> I'm not sure Novell has much to innovation to offer in the personal or
> office computing space. They might, but Novell has so little marketing
> presence, I wouldn't know if they did. They do however have a lot to offer
> on the information services management front. If they can wed their network
> management and directory services offerings with linux in the context of
> mid-to-large sized organizations, they just might survive as more than a
> niche player.
>
> > Anybody who's honest about the current state of the market,
> > though, has to admit it would be a big change for Novell.
>
> Change... no.
>
> They bought UNIX, promised netware services on UNIX, promised the SuperNOS,
> failed to deliver, and sold it. Bought Corel's Linux, made promises, failed
> to deliver and sold it. There are doubtless other examples. I probably
> still have a copy of UnixWare around somewhere. To me it seems like they're
> back to their on-again off-again flirting with UNIX. I certainly hope they
> succeed. They definitely have something to offer. But their track record on
> UNIX related commitments hasn't been good.
>
> Garrett
>
> --
> Garrett Goebel
> IS Development Specialist
>
> ScriptPro                   Direct: 913.403.5261
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-- 
J. Mike Needham
jmneedham at kc.rr.com
Shawnee, KS  66214