Novell plugs open source, dings SCO

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No merit to your assertions...

If anything, Novell has been one of the biggest victims of MS abuse of monopoly position. Not a single example you've cited has been a case of Novell putting out a low-quality product. You yourself admit that the Novell network OS is/was the best. The problem was that the circumstances didn't provide for Novell to successfully challenge MS legally over what MS was doing to them on a large enough scale to rectify the situation. More recently, recognition of MS tactics as a problem by legal authorities as well as customers has paved the way for other competitors to at least seek remedy for more recent or current situations involving MS misbehavior. Seven or eight years ago, the groundwork was not in place for this to happen, so Novell and others took the hit and couldn't do much about it. It's actually to Novell's credit that they've survived at all and are now able to reinvent themselves around open standards, which, by the way, are a driving factor in the case against MicroSoft these past few years, both legally (APIs hidden from competitors, etc.) and by pressure from their customer base (which is turning to open source implementations of open standards).

No, it is clear that Novell is on the mark once again - this is witnessed by understanding that their leadership has regarding where the value is in the software stack. They realize that the OS is a commodity and an open source OS isn't going to be there bread and butter. They will provide offerings and services farther up the stack. This is a key recognition by Novell. Contrast that with MS, whose bread and butter revolves around continuing entrenchment of their OS, and it becomes clear that the MS revenue structure is artificially induced. That is, as soon as customers can find equal value farther up the stack, the OS is irrelevant to them (read: customers care about applications, infrastructural underpinnings). It logically follows that once a competing OS equals Windows in functionality and ease-of-use, and comparable applications are available, brand loyalty disappears. Open data formats and pricing will be the determinants. And that doesn't bode well for the current MicroSoft. As funny as it may sound at this point, Novell may be better positioned for the road ahead.

Posted by: techboy_z   Posted on: 03/17/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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