Novell is a dinosaur
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| r_a_trip Mar 02, 2009 6:58 AM EDT |
"We will continue to be aggressive with the Linux tool and product in order to drive more of our other management products and other products that sit above that," Hovsepian stated. "So fundamentally we have a different strategy on long-term value of Linux in the marketplace and as part of our portfolio. We see it as an important part but we see the long-term profitability coming from these other categories for our business." Novell still doesn't get it. They shouldn't use SUSE as a means to get their closed source middleware in the door. From the above it sounds like Novell is moving stuff out of SUSE and on to their closed middleware to lock potential customers into revenue generating license agreements. In other words, you get a smidge of functionally lacking free software buried under the same old proprietary lock in infrastructure. Why not go with the master of CSS, MSFT, altogether then? Red Hat offers a complete solution with as much added to RHEL as they can, so that their customers are not locked in and get good value for their support contracts. It builds healthy customer relationships and it shows on Red Hat's results. |
| tuxchick Mar 02, 2009 11:39 AM EDT |
Novell gives me an impression of disorganized and unfocused. They have a huge, confusing many-times overlapping product line that is in serious need of pruning. There are really good things like SUSE, and there are seriously stupid things like their iPrint service that depends on ActiveX. It has Mac and Linux clients, but they suck and are just as insecure as ActiveX. It's like a giant identity crisis-- are they a network OS with excellent management tools for mixed networks? Are they a server company? Identity management? Airheads who think MS will be nice to them? If I were queen of Novell I would get rid of all the old redundant crufty crud and focus on network management and services. A nice sturdy netOS that you can fling anything into-- Linux, Mac, Windows clients and servers, and no need for horrid Active Directory because Novell's user and network resource management tools are superior to AD. |
| caitlyn Mar 02, 2009 11:54 AM EDT |
Both comments so far seem accurate to me. I think tuxchick is right that Novell's biggest problem is that they don't have a coherent business model or strategy. Their commitment to Linux since acquiring SUSE is kind of half-hearted. They clearly believe in Linux technology but it seems like they either don't understand FOSS and certainly don't understand how to make money as an Open Source company. It's a pity, really, because, as tuxchick points out, eDirectory (formerly NDS) is a superior product. The fact that most of Novell's recent layoffs have come in the Linux part of the business doesn't bode well for SUSE. |
| tuxtom Mar 03, 2009 7:10 AM EDT |
Quoting:The fact that most of Novell's recent layoffs have come in the Linux part of the business doesn't bode well for SUSE. and therefore Novell. They cut away the new guy who is the only real chance the old guys have of surviving. |
| Scott_Ruecker Mar 03, 2009 8:30 AM EDT |
Sounds like their version of Spansion's Employee Retention Policy http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11794903?nclick_che... too bad it didn't work.. http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID... |
| hkwint Mar 03, 2009 1:33 PM EDT |
It has been said before: Innovation comes from startup companies. The powers that be don't have any interest in changing anything, because of their comfortable margins. This goes for Tilera vs. Intel, VIA vs. Intel, Mandriva & Canonical vs. Microsoft, TomTom vs. Philips (though TomTom belongs to the powers that be now), Nintendo vs. Sony & Microsoft, Tesla vs. GM and the list goes on and on. When it comes to Linux, we probably haven't heard of the new innovative company jet (yeah, the one offering the lean netOS) though it might already exist somewhere. InfernoOS (which doesn't have to do much with Linux; but is one of the best examples of a 'new innovative netOS') might be an example here - but it suffers from being a decendant of Bell Labs and now Alcatel-Lucent. Now we wait for the next gOS, Canonical or whatever it may be I guess, but we don't have to expect anything from Novell. I mean, dinosaurs become extinct - it only takes a while. |
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