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Red Hat Says They'll Be In Linux Long After Novell
Posted by
Zonk
on Sat Nov 04, 2006 07:39 AM
from the fighting-words dept.
from the fighting-words dept.
Jane Walker writes "Red Hat general counsel Mark Webbink goes to the mat for his company regarding the Microsoft/Novell partnership, in this SearchOpenSource.com Q&A. 'In one year, Red Hat will be all that remains of commercial Linux, he said.'" From the article: "Between last week and this one, it is clear that the two largest software vendors in the world perceive Linux to be at least on the same plane as them. They have got to respect what we have done. Having said that, does Red Hat think either of them has taken the right approach, now that Microsoft and Novell have made 'Microvell'? They've gone off the road a bit, we think, but we are feeling good about the attention that has been brought to Linux. "
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Dubious (Score:2, Troll)
Red Hat Beats it's own chest (Score:3, Insightful)
Alright, if you do read the actual article (a foreign concept for some I know), they do make some valid points about Linux in general. Such as that Microsoft has finally admitted it has to take Linux seriously. But one thing that does concern me.
So people who use Novell and Microsoft products are safe, but what about those that choose other products? Will they get sued?
Nothing says that the patent system is more broken then this.
Heh. Now there's an apt comparison.
Aaawh, now come on. You can come out and say it. "You're either for freedom and collaboration, or you're against it."
Come on, we all know what you're saying. Leave that bush alone it's looking pretty nackered. "Novell isn't an open source company, even though it pretends to be." There, now was that so hard?
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Let's see, what other companies has Microsoft partnered with in order to improve Windows interoperability? 3Com, Sybase....
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Yes, all these companies are not doing that well today. They are not out of business either. I think Redhat makes a good point about Novell pulling out of Linux before they do. Look at the Novell track record. The real issue is why is Novell making the deal with Microsoft? Could it be that many people don't consider them relevant anymore with Netware and Groupwise? Perhaps their plans for Suse have not come to pass. I've worked for two different Universities that use Netware/Groupwise and are s
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
As has been discussed at length in many places in recent days, this doesn't seem likely. To summarize:
1. There is no real 'new' risk to other Linux distros than there was a week ago. Just FUD. Saying "but Novell admit there are patents" isn't a real argument.
2. Microsoft cannot easily crush their competition with patents, because (a) of the risk of antitrust measures, (b) the
Re:Red Hat Beats it's own chest (Score:4, Insightful)
That's hilariously naive. A little good PR? Well, you forget about the BIG BAD PR for the entire linux community. I will spell out for you what exactly happened: Novell (the holder of Unix copyrights btw, and a linux distributor) acknowledged that Microsoft might have valid patent claims in linux. If you haven't realized: that's pretty bad.
And I will explain it in Ballmer's words as well, if you think I'm crazy or a zealot (btw, I use FreeBSD, not linux, but care for the FLOSS movement):
Novell succeeded in what SCO failed - incriminated linux distributions. SCO was a weak proxy of Microsoft, now Novell is much much stronger - after all, it is the company that has ~20% marketshare in the enterprise linux arena.Some people think (I'm not referring specifically to your post) that calling others zealots, because they are angry and disappointed is somehow cool. They think that they sound more intelligent if they think only inside the pragmatical/technical box. Here is another angle for those - until now, linux distributions participated in "pure" competition. What I mean is that they competed on two fronts: technical merits of the distribution, and quality of support and services. This was good, even if sometimes it got nasty (like in Oracle case). Novell tainted this with another factor: the MS patent flag. This is very bad on the long run ... unless Novell is stopped somehow.
Oh, and fuck Miguel and friends. They only care for pushing their own agenda. Last year Novell leadership was convinced that going GNOME and MONO is a good idea. Then they had to backpedal, not only because existing customers who standardized on KDE, but because there were migration plans in progress that specifically choose KDE on SuSE, and one of them was a 2000 desktop migration plan (in Europe). Then we had Miguel saying for YEARS that there are no patent issues with MONO. And now, he claims that MONO is finally safe, at least if you use Novell's linux offerings. Yes, yes, some people would say that they saw this coming, after all, he has been a Microsoft fan for some time now. And now:
Well, what about non-Novell customers, Mr. Miguel? There goes all the warning agains incorporating MONO technology into GNOME btw.Parent
Move along, nothing to see here... (Score:2)
Intersting jibe at Novell. Although I agree. I've got nothing against MS' products, but their philosophy and that of "Linux" companies are diamerically opposed. I see no logic in No
Oh, come on... (Score:3, Informative)
The next (Score:2)
That's the salvo that will be the real start of the war. The question isn't whether Microsoft will follow SCO's lead, but WHEN.
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Indemm (Score:2)
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So what, people have one of two choices now? Novell/Microsoft or Red Hat? Doesn't sound like much of a choice to me. But then again the American people are happy with it for their government, so I suppose they'll be happy with it for their operating system.
the real reason for the MS Novell deal .. (Score:2)
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061103
Trustworthy? (Score:2, Interesting)
This comment alone makes me sceptical about this article, as it is not only incorrect, but easily shown to be false. Just to give one example, anyone who has been following the development of the latest Java release (6) knows that there has been considerable technical collaboration, one result of which is that Java on Vista will be fu
Earth shatering stuff! (Score:2)
People are clamoring, no, begging, for more of it.
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People are clamoring, no, begging, for more of it.
The strange thing about supposedly ironic and sarcastic comments is that very occasionally they are, in contrast to the intentions of the author.
One of the results of the collaboration has been Java 6 integration with Windows. No matter what the common belief, Java desktop development is widespread, but what is really needed is GUI integration and performance that makes it
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results are better networking between Solaris systems and Windows.
Does than mean IPec on Windows now works? Heck, I have BSD, 2 Linux and 2 Solaris doing IPSec natively and together but getting Microsoft Windows OS to do it is a nighmare nemisis. But not holding my breath. But it is about the only reason to upgrade to Vista I can think of.
Not only does the Microsoft/Novell agreement... (Score:2)
Think Novell won't fuck this up again? Wrong.
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I just can not think this is a good thing.
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Think Novell won't fuck this up again? Wrong.
Your quite right on this. Novell bought XIMIAN, a key component to really making a serious run at Microsoft's desktop but when it came to marketing it they fell right down without so much as gasp. Self destructive.
Yeah, but... (Score:2)
Sure, but what will remain of Red Hat?
And who needs "commercial Linux" anyway?
Hey, I don't dislike Red Hat, in fact it's my favorite distro. But the idea of running a standalone Linux vendor is history. It is a dead parrot. It's nailed to its perch. It has shuffled off this mortal coil, etc. etc. etc.
Aren't they humble. (Score:5, Insightful)
So Linux is good, and it's *all* thanks to RedHat? No one else deserves credit.
"We still believe that we will be the dominant player in the Linux market, because by that time there won't be any other Linux players."
Do they have to take it to the point of saying 'there can be only one'? I mean that is the whole problem with MSOFT, a homogeneous market. If he stopped before the because, that would have been sufficient and appropriate, but that last bit fuels the flames of those who proclaim RH wants to be the MS of Linux. Whether or not they can is another matter, but it sounds like for this person, this is a confirmed desired path for RH's future.
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Your paraphrasing skills need some work. This isn't what was stated or implied.
Do they have to take it to the point of saying 'there can be only one'?
What you're (intentionally?) leaving out is that they're referring to enterprise linux market 'players'. How many players are there now? Two by my count, but I'm not counting offerings such as Unbreakable (or even Ubuntu LTS) unless/until they gain meaningful traction in the mark
RedHat sounds arrogant... (Score:3, Interesting)
The stock can take a major hit in the short term by this sort of news, but quality products and good management (both of which red hat has) is what will keep the company alive in the long term. One year is much too short a timeframe for all this to pan out. Three years is more realistic. Oracle linux will turn into Sun's java desktop. The Novell/MS partnership will have yielded little/no technology advances. And Novell as a company may or may not have enough steam to keep on chugging in general (non-linux related activities).
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