Probably the reason it's Linux business is not going well...

Is due to their SLES product being crap. (unfortunately)

Having recently performed a multi week trial of SLES 11 for a cloud computing outfit setting up shop, SLES 11 failed miserably.

One of the shipped init scripts (!) even had an incorrect path to the binary it was supposed to launch (which it shipped with), so it *was not possible* for that init script to function. (had to hand edit them myself)

Quality control at Novell/SLES seems to have really taken a (really steep) nosedive since the days of SLES 8/9, when it was a decent product. Pity.

A pity

I'd hate to see Novell go - I'm not a diehard NetWare fan, but I did like using it once I'd had the chance to work with it a bit.

I found that most of the problems we had were caused by the numpties that installed it without actually knowing what they were doing. Once all the misconfiguration had been fixed, it was stable, secure, easy to operate. I also found that most NetWare people were really helpful, particularly in the various forums.

The world moves on, and things change - but not always for the better. Que sera...

Always a shame when the wrong horse wins

At least once a month, when fighting the braindead NTFS security model (want to revoke a group's access to a directory tree? Congratulations, you just completely dirtied a 50G directory tree. Hope backups don't melt down tonight!) I laugh that Netware's late 80s file security model is still better than Microsoft's. Microsoft's attempt at adding inheritance is a complete joke. And "Bypass Traverse Checking?" Nice apocryphal euphemism for "Don't enforce folder permissions."

Every Linux vendor has a lot to thank Novell for.

They could have (merely) done deals, they could have (merely) stood behind their product. However, they stood their ground and slugged it out in the US Courts to demonstrate Linux was clean. Owing to the way the system works oer ther, they will get no money back having spent a small fortune in legal fees and management time.

I don't know about SLES (though editing a script to point to particular binary is a hardly challenging even if it is an unfortunate error).

However, openSUSE has been my distro of choice ever since I bought SuSE 6.something, it's amazing.

All the evidence you need...

Novell's problem is illustrated here and on every other forum where Novell's name comes up: Novell is file, print and eDirectory.

No it ain't!

Novell do far more than that. Solutions like Identity Manager, Sentinel and Access Manager are fantastic but let down by Novell's Stealth Marketing Department.

Microsoft is a marketing company that sells adequate software well.

Novell is a software company that markets good software badly.

*That* is Novell's problem.

(IMHO, etc, etc)

Keeping track of charges...

...is what sound financial principles are all about:

"But Novell kept an ion grip on costs, ..."

Is that a positive thing or a negative thing?

Don't forget the Windoze trojan-horse

Novell made some strategic mistakes, yes.

But - do not underestimate the impact of the far-reaching tentacles of the DOS/Windows ecosystem.

Every dim-bulb in the universe was familiar with it. Which turned out to be extremely important, as businesses increasingly turned to those dim-bulbs (and former secretaries, and accounting clerks) to run their networks.

Those sorts of people could pretend to know what they were doing on a windoze server, even if they really didn't, because it sorta looked the same as their silly Windoze-95 thingy at home. Whereas they would have been completely lost trying to just boot a Netware box. (or most anything else, for that matter)

DON'T SUCK Microsoft's D1kky

your fault, you're dying, you know why? Never, ever fail on your duty! Your duty was to stay clear of the Redmond beast and fight it as eagerly as everyone else is ... not team-up with them .... When will they learn?

Another MS team-mate heading into oblivion!

Novell is... what?

It is sad, really, there are some great people (GK-H comes to mind) and products within the Novell sphere of products. Linux is at the heart of all that is good there. And the struggle with SCO-g was/is taxing (just what the SCO and MS gang had in mind)

The cozy deal with MS *IS* the poison apple... the greater Linux community won't let it flow under the bridge which I still think is the reason Novell is where it is now.

... It might be best if IBM were to step in (purchase Novell ) as they have the clout to kick MS in the nuts... and clean out their nose, justly deserved.

Everyone is watching.