What Red Hat said about Novell and SuSE

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON NOVELL NETWARE TIPS
10/20/05
Today's focus: What Red Hat said about Novell and SuSE

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Novell vs. Red Hat: The theater of it all
* Links related to Novell NetWare Tips
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: What Red Hat said about Novell and SuSE

By Dave Kearns

When Red Hat's CEO, Matt Szulik, was asked recently by the
U.K.'s Computer Business Review what impact Novell's purchase of
SuSE had had on his company's business he replied: I can't think
of any," adding, "I think people like the idea of this
5,400-employee software company buying up a German Linux
distributor. I think they liked the theater of it."

This really rankled Novell spinmeister Bruce Lowery who
commented: "If this is theater, we're still in the first act.
The fat lady hasn't sung yet." Still, Red Hat is able to say
that it has more subscription revenue in EMEA (Europe, Middle
East & Africa) than Novell's entire worldwide Linux revenue.
That's true, to a certain extent. Novell did report SuSE Linux
Enterprise Server revenue of $8 million in its third quarter,
ended July 31. Red Hat had subscription revenue of $54.3 million
in its second quarter, ended Aug. 31, according to the CBR
article <http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell8750>. But this
neatly avoids looking at the revenue from Open Enterprise Server
- $31 million last quarter - even though much of the OES
business is driven by its Linux core.

While I've never been shy about criticizing Novell when it's
wrong (and that does seem to happen far too often), Red Hat's
self-serving comments really need to be put into perspective.
After all, there was a time when Lotus 1-2-3 outsold Excel. And,
even earlier, when Visicalc outsold Lotus. Nothing is static in
the world of software. Just ask Novell, which fondly remembers
when NetWare outsold all other networking systems combined.

What Lowery was perhaps too polite to point out was Novell's
utter dominance of Red Hat in the areas of identity management,
network management and collaboration services. Szulik's comments
may well be the desperate remarks of a CEO who sees his
company's lead slipping away. Linux may not be in your future
plans, but if it is then SuSE Linux (via OES) is by far the best
choice for your network.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco finally brings security push to LAN
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell9063>
2. Skype: Hazardous to network health?
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell7879>
3. WiMAX just around the corner
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell9245>
4. McAfee, Omniquad top anti-spyware test
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell6964>
5. Sourcefire discloses buffer-overflow vulnerability in Snort
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell9246>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dave Kearns

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's
written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print
"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be
found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>.

Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows
Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management.
Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these

respective addresses: <mailto:windows@vquill.com>,
<mailto:netware@vquill.com>, <mailto:identity@vquill.com>.

Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books,
manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing,
technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill
provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at
<mailto:info@vquill.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Avocent
Network World Executive Guide: Reviewing Trends and Insights for
SMB Executives

Life is different for IT professionals at small and mid-sized
businesses, which don't have the luxury of hiring legions of
network experts. Read how network executives are keeping a firm
footing on an ever-shifting product landscape. Learn about
trends and insights surrounding VoIP and VPNs; plus get
commentaries from leading experts on storage strategies for
smaller businesses.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=117591
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Novell NetWare Tips newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/netware/index.html
Novell news page:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/financial/novell.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

Network World New Data Center: Spotlight on Advanced IP

Piecing Together the Next Generation IT Architecture. This 5th
installment in a 6 part series takes a look at at On-demand
services, automated management, and management technologies.
PLUS, see how two IT Execs are plotting their way to an all
IP-world. This NDC issue has it all, click here to read now:

<http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2005/ndc5/>
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