Comments on: Novell Attacks Red Hat With Linux Migration Offer

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:49:47 +0000

HurdyGurdy: The VAR Guy thinks Novell needs to buddy up with ISVs more closely so that SUSE Linux has a stronger application story that will drive CIOs from Red Hat to Novell. SAP is one such example of a company that aggressively supports Novell. More outspoken partners like that are needed.

Oh, and thanks for the nice plug about The VAR Guy’s energy, wit and enthusiasm. Our resident blogger enjoys a good laugh as much as the next (VAR) guy.

By: HurdyGurdy

HurdyGurdy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:14:01 +0000

I like your energy, wit, and enthusiasm VARGuy, but tell me what I can sell or recommend to my customer that will benefit both the customer and myself, the reseller. Novell doesn’t benefit either right now the way I see it. They need a formula for success for the small reseller and not only do they not have a plan for the small VAR, there continues to be a threat that some bigger Novell reseller is going to call my customer and offer lower pricing, and the only solution, at hand, is to switch the enduser to Microsoft. They need a 1-800-I-AM-GOING-TO-SWITCH-MY-NOVELL-CUSTOMER-TO-MICROSOFT-UNLESS-I-CAN-GET-A-BETTER-MARGIN phone line, kinda like the batphone. That way the small reseller can at least call this number and hopefully get a sympathetic Novell representative that can actually do something. And if not, then at least they would have a better feel of how much business they are losing. But they have needed this hotline number for the last decade, so maybe it’s too late now. Maybe there will be an Open Source company that understands the reseller channel that will take over the reins from Novell. Novell created the reseller channel, but, unfortunately now they are a minor/marginal player, and without this buddy/buddy thing going on with Microsoft they could be gone. I wonder how long the buddy-buddy thing with Microsoft will last. Only time will tell…

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:32:02 +0000

HurdyGurdy: you are permitted to be a big fan of “Not a fan now” if you continue reading TheVARguy.com

By: HurdyGurdy

HurdyGurdy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:16:59 +0000

Is it OK to be a big fan of ‘Not a fan now’ due to the stellar post above? I thought I knew alot about this stuff, but this poster really knows their stuff. I can also brag that I did make money on this stock, but the last trade I made on it was hair-raising. I bought it at 10, it went down to around 5, forever, and then shot up for a brief time to 12. I bailed around 11 or 12 and never looked back. I do not believe it has been above 10 since.

By: HurdyGurdy

HurdyGurdy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:18:45 +0000

I have learned that if you accidentally make the wrong play in Microsoft Solitare, you can click Game/Undo and this will reverse your last play. I thought since I was on this blog about something that has no money in it, I would add my two cents. Actually, you are much better spending your time playing Solitare waiting for that money call to come in, instead of talking to your Novell rep, instead of reading up on the latest Novell features, instead of discussing the benefits of Novell with the enduser, etc. As these activities prove to be a complete waste of time for the small VAR. See, I just wasted time on this board, when my time would have been better spent playing Solitare. I make the same amount of money either way. Well I guess it is back to playing solitare waiting for the money call to come….

By: matthorany

matthorany — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:29:08 +0000

I don’t think this is an attack from Novell at all. It’s not like they are putting out a publication that says “Red Hat” stinks, use us instead. But they are offering migration tools and an incentive to people who are considering it. It’s a good move for Novell in my opinion. OES 2 on SLES10 is a super solid product in my opinion. It’s the backbone of our data and distribution center. Maybe it would have been the same if we had gone Red Hat, but would the support be there? Novell has a pretty nice support package not to mention extensive documentation on their website. That alone is a deciding factor in my opinion.

By: Ian MacGregor

Ian MacGregor — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:55:50 +0000

Aha, the plot emerges.. Microsoft is attempting to kill off Red Hat. I knew there was a reason Microsoft wanted Novell.

Any friend of Microsoft is an enemy of mine. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I’ll stick with Linux.

By: Sum Yung Gai

Sum Yung Gai — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:31:33 +0000

Rufus, we’re not Novell’s target. CXO’s are. They don’t give a rip about the ethics/morals of Free Software or even Open Source. If someone’s gonna give ‘em a freebie or close to it, they’re gonna take it. And if it’s a Microsoft partner doing it, that gives these CXO’s a warm fuzzy.

–SYG.

By: Rufus Polson

Rufus Polson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:06:20 +0000

Whether they can do it or not, this strikes me as exactly the kind of thing that has people mad at, and suspicious of, Novell. Traditionally Linux vendors have concentrated on increasing the Linux market share at the expense of other competitors such as Microsoft Windows, Solaris etc. rather than on eating one another. Now we have Novell specifically announcing that its objective is to team up with Microsoft to take market share from another Linux vendor.
People who like open source are not going to be enthusiastic about a Linux vendor that prefers to get Microsoft’s help to cannibalize the existing Linux market rather than expand Linux’s presence. I would be one of them.

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:17:23 +0000

Dennis: Great questions. Here are a few answers. The IDC data is based on “worldwide Linux server operating environment new license paid shipments/subscriptions and nonpaid deployments by vendor, 2004-2007.”

The VAR Guy assumes the sales numbers include the MSFT license purchases from Novell. But note: Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon has stated that even without the Microsoft license purchases, Novell’s Linux business would be growing as fast as — or faster than — the overall Linux market.

Whenever The VAR Guy sees research reports — especially when open source is involved — he treats them as “educated guesses” rather than facts. The world has changed. Measuring operating system shipments/preloads in the 1990s was pretty easy. But now a range of factors (downloads, free options, virtualization) makes it very, very difficult to accurately gauge market share figures.

Overall the best way to gauge success is to watch Novell and Red Hat revenue figures tied directly to Linux, The VAR Guy believes.

By: Dennis Byron

Dennis Byron — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:22:13 +0000

Var Guy,

Did Novell says whether IDC was measuring server software (money or instances??) or actual servers with a particular brand of Linux pre-loaded or ?????. I don’t doubt the market-share statistic (in fact I think it may be low) but I think it is skewed by the fact that one large “customer,” Microsoft, is buying all those licenses.

Also it’s good for Novell to have training/sales programs but I am not sure Linux-Linux migration programs are going to matter much here. The big movement in the market is still Unix to Linux.

Dennis

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:43:10 +0000

Two Updates:

1. From Novell: The company points to market share numbers from IDC, suggesting Red Hat’s worldwide Linux server market share was 62.1% in 2007 down from 64.2% in 2006. In contrast, IDC says Novell’s worldwide Linux server share rose to 29% in 2007 from 26.1% in 2006.

2. From Red Hat: A spokeswoman says Red Hat has “no comment” on Novell’s claims and business strategy. Frankly, The VAR Guy enjoyed the response. It was was for Red Hat to take the high road and compete in the market rather than in the media.