November 2nd, 2006
Time to short RedHat?
Let's get the snark out of the way first, shall we?
If Ray Noorda were still alive this would kill him.
Microsoft and Novell in a wide-ranging partnership to make Linux and Windows work together?
Sure, Oracle is pissed. Yes indeed, the fox is in the henhouse.
Not RedHat.
Seriously. This deal will test, for all time, where buyer loyalty lies in open source. Is it with price? Is it with the mighty? Is it with the guy on the other end of the phone? Is it with the community?
My opinion, for what it's worth. If we're really talking open source, if no one is going to do a proprietary fork, take their customers and go home, everyone wins here. The market can now grow exponentially, grabbing customers who were previously suspicious, who would never consider Linux before.
Which means the loser now may be later to win. The times they are a-changin'. If you're looking at the long term, don't dump your RedHat stock. As the smallest player here they've got the most upside.
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Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 11/03/06
