November 2nd, 2006
Might Microsoft and Novell make a deal?
We know that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is slated to announce something at 2 p.m. PST today.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft and Novell will announce some sort of partnership. Microsoft isn't confirming, so far at least.
Less than a month after the death of long-time Microsoft adversary and Novell founder Ray Noorda, might Microsoft and Novell find common ground? It sounds wild, but it's not impossible. I can think of a few areas where such a partnership would make sense:
* Microsoft put a partnership in place last year with JBoss (now part of RedHat). Novell and JBoss already have a strong relationship. So it's not so completely far-fetched that JBoss could play matchmaker for some kind of similar cooperative agreement.
* Microsoft could use Novell as an indirect way to get at Oracle. Think about it: Oracle offers to indemnify Red Hat Linux customers. What if Microsoft countered and provided support for SUSE Linux? Or perhaps Novell (via JBoss) will introduce a Red Hat Linux subscription-support offering — similar to the JBoss Enterprise Middleware System it already offers — and Microsoft will act as a back-up support provider for the Novell Red Hat service?
* Microsoft has made no bones about the fact that the company has been quite interested in Miguel de Icaza's work around Mono, the open-source implementation of .Net.
Anyone see any other Microsoft-Novell synergies?
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 20 years. Don't miss a single post. Subscribe via Email or
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