BeerFiles is a sometimes irreverent blog concerning all things to do with IT, technology, people and the media from the point of view of a hard boiled technology journalist and commentator. Stan has been in the IT game for about a quarter of a century. He has seen and written about the rise and fall of more than a few IT players and made many friends, some of whom he has even crossed swords with on occasions. Everything in this blog is purely Stan’s opinion so if you agree, wish to expand upon, correct a post or tell Stan he’s a clueless know nothing, please feel free.

Microsoft hijacks Linux support gravy train

by Stan Beer

Friday, 03 November 2006

The stunning announcement today from Microsoft that it has gotten into bed with Novell and will support Suse Linux has got industry tongues wagging all over the world as to what it will mean. Two things spring to mind. Coming on the back of Oracle's Red Hat support announcement, it signals a move by the big hitters to muscle in and hijack the Linux support gravy train and it ends the aspirations of smaller Linux players. Red Hat, the Linux distribution market leader, went into a state of shock a few days ago when Oracle announced it would provide Red Hat support at half price. Red Hat shares plummeted and now sit at less than half their price of just six months ago. The fact that a few words from Larry Ellison could have such an effect demonstrates the vulnerability of the independent Linux players. The collaborative agreement with Microsoft and Novell, however, is somewhat different. It provides Novell with access to Microsoft customers and gives Microsoft an entry into the Linux support market. Microsoft is due to release Windows Vista at the end of this month. However, the Windows operating system market is near saturation point and growing very slowly. Meanwhile, Linux is moving into areas that Windows has been unable to reach. Microsoft recognizes that it is missing out on business by not opening up Windows to open source applications like PHP, which is why it announced its partnership with Zend Technologies yesterday. It is also missing out on business by not using its huge workforce, market reach, financial resources and on-board expertise to offer Linux support. Novell, a company which has a long history of working with Windows users, is more natural partner for Microsoft than Red Hat and its move into the Linux space should provide a significant boost for Suse Linux. The latest move by Microsoft is a long time coming recognition that Linux and open source software are here to stay, so it's time for Microsoft to jump in and take its cut.{moscomment} Tags See All Tags Deals  Linux  Microsoft  Open Source  Services  Software  Powered By Joomla Tags Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment!

 

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