The VAR Guy

Susan Heystee likely has the toughest job in the software business. Novell has named her to oversee the company’s relationship with Microsoft.

That’s no small task. Novell and Microsoft have come under fire for their so-called Linux-Windows interoperability agreement. Only days after the agreement was announced, Novell’s CEO wrote an open letter stating that his company disagreed with Microsoft’s public statements about Linux patent issues.

Can Heystee manage to ensure nearly 20 years of bad blood between Microsoft and Novell don’t spill over into the open source community? Will anyone tell Microsoft that true Windows-Linux interoperability requires partnerships with the broader open source community–including Red Hat?

The Novell-Microsoft deal may be interesting to Novell VARs. But the vast majority of Linux partners are aligned with Red Hat. Apparently, Microsoft missed that memo.