Microsoft-Novell turn up heat further on Red Hat

Stan Beer
Friday, 03 November 2006 08:32

Opinion and Analysis

Last week Red Hat found itself backed into a corner by a surprise announcement from Oracle boss Larry Ellison offering Red Hat Linux support at half price. Today the company is under siege with the announcement that software leader Microsoft has agreed to throw its weight behind Novell's Suse Linux distribution.

This is an important announcement for Novell and an equally distressing one for Red Hat. The reason is that Microsoft will work together with Novell to make sure that Suse Linux and Windows can co-exist in a multi-operating system site with the key assurance that it will not pursue patent infringement claims on any Microsoft software that is incorporated with Suse Linux. The same assurance will not be extended to other Linux distributions, including Red Hat.

Given that one of the hindrances to Linux adoption in the corporate world has been fear of legal retribution from Microsoft, this provides Novell and Suse Linux with an enormous advantage over other Linux distributions. What's more, Microsoft and Novell, knowing this, will no doubt play that card for all it's worth.

Meanwhile, over at Red Hat the Linux market leader has to contend with a powerful software partner turned competitor in Oracle, which intends to undercut its support business by offering half price support. Many of Red Hat's largest customers are also Oracle database customers which makes this a serious problem.

The problem suddenly got a lot worse because nearly all of Red Hat's customers and target customers are also Microsoft customers. With the Novell and Microsoft deal in place, running a Red Hat Linux and Windows site is suddenly more problematical than a Suse Linux and Windows site. The playing field is no longer level between the two Linux vendors.

Analysts were speculating last week whether Red Hat could survive the Oracle onslaught, today's announcement may help them make up their minds. As for Oracle, Microsoft moving into the Linux space may make Ellison's dream of owning a complete software stack a little more difficult.