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Three Takers Named for Microsoft's Linux Support

Posted by Zonk on from the step-right-up dept.

narramissic writes "According to an article on ITworld, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank AG, and AIG Technologies have signed on for Microsoft's technical support for Novell Inc.'s Suse Enterprise Linux. This follows last month's announcement of a deal between Novell and Microsoft that Steve Ballmer described as an effort to 'bridge the divide between open-source and proprietary-source software.' None of the companies cited the price of the support certificates, nor would they say how many they were activating. Even more interesting, Credit Suisse is a brand new cusomter for Novell."

16 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. And so it begins. by GodInHell · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Ballmer: "Buy my service or you're open to liability."

    Customer: "Please don't hurt me."

    Ballmer: "These are some lovely client server apps you have here, it would be a shame if something were to.. happen to them..."

    Customer: "Okay.. okay, I'll pay.... I'll pay" [quiet weeping].

    -GiH

    1. Re:And so it begins. by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Funny


      So when is /. going to replace the SuSE icon with a stylised thirty pieces of silver?

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  2. Microsoft providing Linux Support? by n6kuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a cookbook!

    --
    If you disagree with me on social issues, then it's pretty clear that you are a narrow-minded bigot.
  3. Great. by marcello_dl · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now Novell will have to introduce random behaving bugs in his packages lest the microsoft support guys feel disoriented.

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    ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
  4. Why? - Credit Suisse in particular by IANAAC · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Since Credit Suisse is a new Novell customer, you'd think that Novell would have tried to sell them their own suppport.


    What am I missing?

    1. Re:Why? - Credit Suisse in particular by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Informative
      Since Credit Suisse is a new Novell customer, you'd think that Novell would have tried to sell them their own suppport. What am I missing?

      According to Matt Asay over at InfoWorld, this story is incorrect, or at best exaggerated. He says he has it on authority that all the companies mentioned in the story had been using both Suse and Red Hat for some time.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  5. "Support" by porkThreeWays · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The word "support" is so overused. What exactly does support mean these days anyway? Patches that don't work? Phone calls to someone out of the country that doesn't speak your language natively and has never actually used the program in a production environment? Hold times of 45 minutes? Security updates that break other parts?

    Honestly, the word "support" to me has almost no meaning anymore. It's been thrown out there so many times as the deciding factor in a purchase, however I've yet to see really useful support. I've dealt with companies big and small and have never resolved a difficult issue in less than an hour with their supplied support.

    All I care about anymore is whether they give you the proper tools to solve the problem yourself. Proper documentation and the source code (yes, smaller companies will give you source code if you are big enough and that's the deal breaker). I'll take that over a level I phone jockey any day!

    --
    If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
  6. Masochists. by Bandman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, because Microsoft's Windows support is such a sterling example of quality, I can see where companies would have to be literally fended off with dead chickens from taking this deal.

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    Check out my sysadmin blog!
  7. BAD Headline... by LDAPMAN · · Score: 5, Informative

    MS is not providing them Linux support. The sold them Novells support program.

  8. Re:itsatrap by Intron · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is like having a Mercedes and have it serviced by Kia.

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    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  9. Re:Can you imagine? by mandelbr0t · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Working the SuSE helpdesk wouldn't be as bad as you think. #1 call is going to be "I need to share these files from my Linux server to my Windows 2k/XP desktop." Microsoft will be motivated to make this happen (I've had some strange problems with this in the past). They really don't want the helpdesk response to be "Sorry, but Microsoft hasn't released that patch yet." They can blame Samba, sure, but then Microsoft looks stupid for associating with a product they won't stand behind. From an Interoperability standpoint, it seems that Microsoft is playing ball.

    I think the only real problem here was the deliberate attempt to undermine the GPL. In the end, though, the effect is not as bad as we think. GPLv3 plugs the loophole, a Linux vendor gets a ton of cash from Microsoft, and life goes on. I don't like Novell getting in bed with Microsoft, but it's not like they had a whole lot of choice. $400 million is a lot to turn down on the basis of "principles", "morals" or "ethics". The important thing is that the timing of the announcement allowed the GPL to be developed to prevent any further deals of this nature to be made.

    mandelbr0t

    --
    "Please describe the scientific nature of the 'whammy'" - Agent Scully
  10. They are... by Misch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dewey, Cheetem, and Howe

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    --You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
  11. Blind MS bashing?! Are you kidding?! by Teckla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not Microsoft's fault if these companies choose to pay for support they don't actually need.

    What?! Microsoft's CEO basically threatens companies that use Linux, and Microsoft isn't at fault?!

    And I suppose if Guido says, "Bad things might happen to your family, Mr. Anonymous Coward, unless you pay me some 'protection' money...", then it isn't Guido's fault if you pay him for protection you don't actually need???

    And you got modded Insightful! Unbelievable!

    I, for one, am getting pretty tired of people whining that Microsoft gets unfairly bashed here on Slashdot too often. I regularly read plenty of responses that defend Microsoft that get modded +5 Insightful.

  12. Re:and Hubert Mantel rejoins Novell by nadamsieee · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It isn't. They got their thirty pieces of silver.
    They may have gotten paid (short term gain), but Novell has lost their way with the community that feeds them in the process (long term loss).
  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  14. Re:and Hubert Mantel rejoins Novell by Jason+Earl · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's easy enough to say that, but Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank AG, and AIG Technologies are not likely to be very happy when the next version of Samba rolls out and they can't use it because it is licensed under version 3 of the GPL and Novell can't distribute GPLv3 apps and still maintain its deal with Microsoft.

    Novell has a vested interest in keeping the Free Software community happy because there is no way that Novell can compete if it has to maintain its own forks of popular Free Software projects. Novell is having enough trouble trying to convince customers that a migration from Netware to SuSE Linux makes more sense than a migration from Netware to Windows. The last thing Novell needs is this sort of drama.