Novell's decision to buy SuSE, the world's second largest
commercial Linux distributor, could dramatically boost the uptake
of open source software in the enterprise and give millions of
Netware users a migration path to the open source operating
system.
Analyst firm Gartner said Novell users considering a shift to open
source would now have "a rich infrastructure stack around
directory, file, print, collaboration and messaging", packaged
around the Linux operating system.
IDC said Novell has a global installed base of four million servers
running Netware and 95 million PCs connected to a Netware network.
However, Novell's share of new server sales is slipping. IDC's
latest estimates show that 23% of new servers are running Linux and
9.9% use Netware.
Novell chief executive Jack Messman said, "Linux is the future of
computing. This merger reduces the barrier to deploying Linux in
the enterprise."
IBM has backed the SuSE takeover with a £30m investment in Novell.
IBM has been aggressively promoting Linux but Red Hat, the leading
commercial distributor of the open source software, only supports
some IBM platforms.
Dan Kusnetzky, vice-president for systems software at IDC, said
IBM's stake would act as an incentive for SuSE to continue the
complex work of developing Linux distributions across all IBM's
hardware. "SuSE is the only Linux provider to support all of IBM's
hardware platforms," he said.
Novell set to bring Linux into the mainstream >>