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Novell to buy SuSE Linux for $210 million
Associated Press | November 4, 2003

Posted on 11/04/2003 8:52:38 AM PST by HAL9000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Novell Inc. stock soared Tuesday after the company said it will buy Germany's SuSE Linux AG for $210 million in cash.

Novell also said IBM Corp. plans to buy $50 million of Novell's convertible preferred stock, and the two companies are in talks to extend agreements between IBM and SuSE.

SuSE provides software and support for Linux, an operating system widely used on Web servers and corporate computers. Its version of Linux is supported by IBM.

Shares of Novell traded Tuesday morning at $8.48, up $2.44, or 40 percent, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The move helps customers "adopt Linux with more confidence," said Jack Messman, Novell's chairman and chief executive.

Novell has supported IBM in its legal battle against SCO Group, which claims that IBM tooks bits of code from Unix, an operating system SCO says it has rights to, and transferred them to Linux. IBM has dismissed the lawsuit as unfounded, and Novell says that it, not SCO, owns the copyrights to Unix.

SCO has also threatened to sue companies that deploy Linux unless they pay a licensing fee.

The IBM contract extension and the preferred-stock investment are both expected to close when Novell's acquisition of closely held SuSE Linux, which is based in Nuremberg, Germany, is completed by the end of January.

In August, Novell bought another Linux company, Ximian Inc.

Copyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved



TOPICS: News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: linux; novell; suse

1 posted on 11/04/2003 8:52:38 AM PST by HAL9000
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To: rdb3
pinging the penguin pinger
2 posted on 11/04/2003 8:54:20 AM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: HAL9000
I bet SCO/Caldera/David Boise are yelling and spitting up like Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Dule & Duke) did in the Eddie Murphy movie Trading Places. Screaming something like "They can't do that! Unix is ours! We built Unix! It's ours! Turn those Linux machines off!!!"
3 posted on 11/04/2003 9:04:18 AM PST by isthisnickcool (Guns!)
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To: isthisnickcool; HAL9000
A cool move by Novell and IBM.

And we also have this:

_____________________________________________

Xbox to Switch to PowerPC
November 4, 2003 Wired News
Xbox to Switch to PowerPC The chip that powers the Macintosh will soon be in Microsoft's gaming console. That's good news for IBM and a bad sign for Intel. By Leander Kahney. By Leander Kahney 2:00 a.m. Nov. 4, 2003 PDT Microsoft's next-generation Xbox will ditch its Intel chip in favor of the same

4 posted on 11/04/2003 10:24:13 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Davis needs to get out of Arnoold's Office)
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To: HAL9000
WooHoo! I've been holding on to my little bit of Novell for several years hoping it would come back!!
5 posted on 11/04/2003 11:01:55 AM PST by SuziQ
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To: HAL9000
This is big news!

Maybe this will make up for Novell dumping SCO Unix all those years ago!
6 posted on 11/04/2003 11:08:55 AM PST by Only1choice____Freedom (If everything you experienced, believed, lived was a lie, would you want to know the truth?)
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To: HAL9000
You saw it here first, folks -- the penguin torch has just passed from RedHat to SuSE.

RedHat's blunder in moving to "Fedora" has boxed them into a server corner they won't be able to get out of.

Novell, on the other hand, is girding to do battle against Microsoft on the desktop IMHO...

7 posted on 11/04/2003 11:14:17 AM PST by chilepepper (The map is not the territory -- Alfred Korzybski)
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To: chilepepper
Novell, on the other hand, is girding to do battle against Microsoft on the desktop IMHO...

Don't hold your breath, fanboy.
8 posted on 11/04/2003 9:47:32 PM PST by Bush2000
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