Followups
Regarding my early morning greetings to the readers of the Inquirer: I ran into this rather upsetting article a few days back, and thought I had to comment. The article linked an article by Dylan Evans, called Smash the Windows. Dylan argued that people should know more about computers to use them, rather than less. I figured I'd ran into the article on the Inquirer, and the best way to reach other Inquirer readers was through, um... The Inquirer. So I mailed them and after a few hours a new article appeared, featuring (among others) a message by me. Feel free to take a look.
Anyhow, a whole bunch of people seems to have found my blog through the Inquirer during to weekend, so greetings to you all!
Novell, Ximian and Suse
Last week I hinted at Linux being destined for the Desktop. About a week ago Novell anounched that they're aquiring Suse. Earlier this year Novell aquired Ximian. So why is all this significant?
I believe Microsoft's grip on the corporate market is largely dependent on the huge user base of installed Windows desktop computers. Many companies use Windows on their servers as well, it's just convenient that way.
Novell has long had a decent foothold in the server market. Microsoft's Active Directory is largely based on ideas implemented by Novell at least half a decade earlier. But even though Novell might have had superior server technology they haven't had a desktop offering, and they'we been losing ground as a result... until now.
I believe Novell will pitch their Linux technology against Windows. They need Suse for the operating system itself, and Ximian for the desktop and Windows/Linux heterogenous network integration bits. Novell's server technology has long been available for a number of platforms, not much new stuff needed there.
With this technology I believe Novell might actually have a change competing against Microsoft. Longhorn is a long way away, and if they give sensible licensing options to firms many may be inclined to switch. If Novell can provide a drop-in replacement for Windows there is bound to be interrest. I might be horribly wrong here, but it's fun to speculate...