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Zeichick’s Take: Novell is gone, and yes, it matters. Here’s why


By Alan Zeichick


 Alan Zeichick
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April 28, 2011 —  Novell is now part of Attachmate. Should you care? Yes.

The deal closed on Wednesday, April 27: “Novell, Inc., the leader in intelligent workload management, today announced that it has completed its previously announced merger, whereby Attachmate Corporation acquired Novell for $6.10 per share in cash. Novell is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group, the parent company of Attachmate Corporation."

Novell means lots of different things to different people. To me, the word “Novell” will always followed by “NetWare,” just as surely as “Lotus” is followed by “1-2-3.” (Yes, Alan is a dinosaur.)

To its more contemporary followers, Novell means two big open-source projects: SUSE Linux and Mono, an open-source implementation of the Microsoft .NET Framework and Common Language Runtime.

There are lots of other Novell products, to be sure: ZENworks, data center management tools, GroupWise, etc. See the big long list here.

However, the only two that truly matter, from the software development perspective at least, are SUSE Linux and Mono.

SUSE is one of the Big Two enterprise-class distributions, along with Red Hat. (There are oodles of consumer-facing distros, like Ubuntu.) When it came to running on large hardware, I’ve always considered SUSE to be the de facto leader. Given that Attachmate serves the same large enterprise customer base, I’m confident that SUSE will continue to evolve as a strong platform.

Mono is a concern. First, I’m not sure if Mono has a sustainable business model—or that it even has a business model at all. Second, Microsoft was a key behind-the-scenes player in Attachmate’s acquisition of Novell—see my comments from last November. It’s not in Microsoft’s best interest for Mono to exist. After all, if you can run .NET applications on Linux, you’re not locked into buying Windows Server.

My prediction: Under Attachmate, SUSE will flourish, and Mono will wither. I expect Mono to suffer intentional neglect, rather than a bold stroke, until it weakens, loses relevance and fades away.

It’s a depressing thought, almost as depressing as Overstock.com purchasing the naming rights to the stadium used by the Oakland A’s baseball team and the Oakland Raiders football team. The idea of visiting "Overstock.com Coliseum" is somewhat nauseating.

Alan Zeichick is editorial director of SD Times. Read his blog at ztrek.blogspot.com.




Related Search Term(s): Attachmate, Mono, Novell, SUSE Linux


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Comments


04/28/2011 09:48:34 PM EST

It will actually be O.co Coliseum. I'm guessing pronounced "Oh Coe" or "Oh dot Coe." Oh Coe Coliseum doesn't sound THAT bad, better than Network Associates, 3Com, or Monster.

United StatesNaw She Ating


04/29/2011 08:51:07 AM EST

You got it wrong. It is Microsoft’s best interest for Mono to exist. Why do you think Microsoft has been injecting cash to Novell for a long time, helping them in Mono and ultimately subsidizing the sale ? Mono helps validate .NET as a viable development platform in the eyes of many, and that ultimately helps MS.

United Statesjhonybgood


04/29/2011 10:27:24 AM EST

As long as Microsoft can offer better .Net development tools (Visual Studio) than what is available on Linux and Mac OS (MonoDevelop), people will buy Windows and Visual Studio for .Net, web, Mac and iOS development. If Mono goes away, these people will buy Macs for Mac and iOS development instead. I think the whole "Microsoft hates open source" idea is getting really old. It might have been true one day, but the world isn't flat anymore.

United StatesLouis Salin


05/16/2011 05:06:21 PM EST

Sad to see Novell fade into posterity. The company had a brilliant start in Utah, where its brains and soul were always centered, and somehow lost its way by moving its money and leadership to Silicon Valley. It's brilliant fouding scientists and entrepreneurs should be lauded and remembered. Its failure to build on its powerful network franchise should be studied in business schools.

United StatesJon Cohen


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