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IBM Invests $50M in Novell, May Ship SUSE Linux

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the big-deals dept.

dave writes "Novell announced that it has finalized a $50 million investment from IBM, and that IBM can now begin shipping SUSE Linux on all IBM server platforms. Historically, IBM has been a 'Red Hat shop,' and one has to wonder if this is a harbinger of things to come."

7 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Bad times for Red Hat! by LoboRojo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    First they lost appreciation from personal users (Fedora affair), and now they lose support from big guys (IBM). I'd sell my Red Hat stock as soon as I could pick up the phone and contact my broker...

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  2. Re:question? by Czernobog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As far as I know SuSE have one of the two best PPC linux distros out there, the other one being Yellow Dog.

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  3. Re:question? by slackr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yes, IBM is huge. They retooled as a consulting company so they deliver "solutions" more than hardware, and that is why they've been big on Linux. Basically, there are a ton of little Linux consultants out there but for top-tier corporations you would only hire a company of large standing. IBM is really the only player in this type of (growing) Linux market (although Sun is moving in that direction, but my boss thinks that Big Blue will want to buy them out.)

    IMO, IBM could be thinking about buying Novell. A move like this helps them suss that out, but the acquisition of their own Linux distribution combined with a surprisingly large Netware install base is pretty attractive. Especially since just about all of the Netware sites are looking to move out of it there's a real opportunity for IBM to come in and make that happen on Linux before they go Microsoft.

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  4. IBM does play in the server market by frostycellnex · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I currently work for IBM, and I can tell you that IBM is definitely a player in the server market. We use both PowerPC and Intel-based processors, depending on what type of hardware configuration you're talking about. One segment of our server offerings also runs AIX (called IBM eServer pSeries). To fill in the picture, IBM still sells a machine (today called the eServer iSeries) which used to be called the AS/400, as well as a true mainframe called the eServer zSeries.

    IBM continues to produce Wintel PCs, and I believe at least a portion of our Linux offerings also run on Intel architecture, but there has been a PowerPC version of Linux for at least the past 7 years. I'm not certain what SuSE is running on, but I think it could be PowerPC.

  5. War by Proxy by HighOrbit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    -- Caldera started by disgruntled Novell employees
    --MS finances Caldera/SCO to sue IBM
    --IBM induces Novell to register UNIX copyrights (after waiting 10 years to get around to it).
    --Novell Buys SuSe
    --SCO sues Novell
    --Now IBM pours money into Novell

    I know Novell is a company with a glorious past, but, just as SCO is a MS puppet/proxy, I think Novell is getting pulled into being a minor sattelite orbiting IBM.

    Man, this is better than a soap opera !

  6. Has to be said by onyxruby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Has to be said, how long until IBM buys out Novell? They haven't exactly done too well these last few years, and Novell has a whole host of patents and IP that would fit in niceley with IBM. Not only that, but if this farce with SCO doesn't get dismissed soon, they would then be the direct owners of those Unix remnants that Novell holds onto.

    Novell is moving more and more into Linux, and there next version of Netware is to be Linux based, with no more stand alone netware products they just announced. Novell was once king, as was IBM in it's heydey. Between them they could well become king again.

  7. Redhat vs. IBM by qweqazfoo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I used to work with the Linux Tech Center at IBM, and I've still got friends on the inside. From what they tell me, SuSE is just much more cooperative and much more interested in partnership than Redhat.

    You may have heard Redhat called the Microsoft of Linux. This is a perception that is alive and well within IBM.

    When I worked on the Linux Standards Base project, Redhat was very resistant to standardization. We'd open bug reports about LSB compliance issues, and they'd be hastily closed saying that Redhat wanted to do things their way. They ended up not participating in the UnitedLinux project, which was backed heavily by IBM and HP.

    SuSE on the other hand was very involved with the LSB and UnitedLinux. They drove a bulk of the standardization efforts. They also have a very good support relationship with the IBM Linux developers.

    So when it comes down to it, SuSE just wants IBM more than RH. They created a better working relationship. The only thing they really lacked was a strong North American presence. The merger with Novell solved that, and gave them a strong support and services arm to boot.