Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."

17 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Redhat may count the cost... by Space+cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... of catering only to the pay-for market. If IBM can bundle a no-cost distribution, why should they pay even token fees to Redhat to bundle their version of Linux as the IBM-blessed version? It's not as though IBM can't support any linux they care to. Hell, they're just about the only company that could support them *all* [grin]

    Or, perhaps it's payback time. Novell were very supportive of IBM in the SCO debacle. Perhaps this is IBM saying thankyou. Wouldn't it be ironic if SCO's actions were what caused Linux to become an even stronger corporate presence :-)

    Simon

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
  2. 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...

    --

    ---
    All my submissions to Slashdot rejected... and proud of it!
  3. A Red Hat shop? by Epeeist · · Score: 5, Informative

    > Historically, IBM has been a 'Red Hat shop,'

    This would explain why we have been running SuSE on our mainframes for the last two years then.

    IBM has had marketing agreements with Red Hat, SuSE and and TurboLinux for quite some time. It may favour Red Hat in the States, but it seems quite agnostic about which distribution to recommend to customers.

  4. Re:question? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You must have been out of the IT world for quite a while. IBM sells:
    - intel servers (running linux or windows)
    - AMD opteron servers (SUSE has an AMD64 port)
    - power processor boxes (running AIX and linux)

    A press release from 2000: SuSE delivers Enterprise Linux for IBM RS/6000

  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. 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.

    --
    /. Where the truth
  7. Re:question? by nharmon · · Score: 5, Informative

    They are THE major player in the very large server market, however they are still a formitable competitor in the medium-sized to Pentium-class server market.

    And for good reason. IBM packages their servers with a LOT of goodies. IBM Director (formerly known as Tivoli) comes free with every server. And now we're getting SuSE.

  8. 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.

    --

    * Please do not read my signature.
  9. 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.

  10. IBM has always been tight with Suse by puppetluva · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This post is misleading. IBM has always been close to Suse (probably closer than with Redhat):
    • IBM was one of the main investors in Suse from the beginning.
    • They shipped Suse for their Zseries (mainframe) boxes as the only option.
    • Many of the suse executives were ex-IBMers
    • I think that Suse was the distro they pitched in Munich (although I'm not as sure about this one)

    So. . . this should surprise no-one. IBM is omnipresent in Linux these days, but they have traditionally been the biggest force behind Suse (and now they are backing Novell).

    My Guess As to Why? There are things that IBM can do hiding behind the names "Suse" and "Novell" that they cannot do as "IBM".
  11. Re:question? by barthrh2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Out of the IT World? More like off of the planet!

    IBM is the #3 server vendor in the world behind HP and Dell. They have about 15% market share. IBM has been investing billions into Linux and the types of servers that would support it best (notably blade servers -- perfect for grids).

    In December 2000 IBM committed to invest $1Billion in Linux software, hardware, services, the open source community and partnerships during 2001. That's only 2001! If anything, they have only increase their rate of investment.

    Add to all of this their strong commitment to WebSphere and Java, and you have a company that has more than embraced Linux. When IBM invested 2.5 Billion in a new semiconductor manufacturing facility,they automated the facility using Linux.

    Come back to our world where Big Blue is bigger & bluer than ever!

  12. IBM is a company by 222 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IBM is a company, and a company sells what its customers want. If 6% of IBM's customer base wanted to use dr-dos, im sure IBM would find a means to deliver it. Thats all, theres nothing more to see here.
    Suse, for those that havent used it, is a fantastic distro btw... it was the first one to convince me to buy a boxed copy ;). Both home and personal versions on 8.2 and 9.

    Also, suse sells 3 foot inflatible penguins on their website, i paid 25 bucks for mine, and TRUST ME... it impresses the ladies.

  13. 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 !

  14. 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.

  15. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  16. 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.

  17. The Big Slashdot Fallacy by fm6 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Slashdotters need to start understanding that "It works for me," is not an argument. The typical Slashdotter has a level of hacking skill that is neither available nor desired by the world at large.

    It gets old. You talk about email clients, and someone will insist that you can get by with a plain text mailer -- MIME attachments are passing fad. You talk about off-the-shelf routers, and somebody will wonder why you don't just use an old laptop running BSD. You discuss the problems of providing reliable downloads, and someone will insist that BitTorrent, a tool you need to be a total hacker to use, is a universal solution.

    And of course there's the dude who asks, "I have no trouble working with Fedora, why is it a problem for IBM?" Of course it doesn't even occur to him that Red Hat gets the same amount of revenue for Fedora as they get for SuSE. Which is to say, none.

    Repeat after me: "OTHER PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT NEEDS FROM ME."