Now as far as Novell and SUSE, this is a big deal. Decidedly. Novell is positioning themselves for a serious run on corporate accounts with SUSE as the desktop and applications server environments, Netware (still incredibly stable and efficient) for file and print services, and they gave in to the Webserver standard some time ago (either v5.1 or 6.0, I forget) by incorporating Apache instead of something proprietary - they were playing with WebSphere for awhile in there too. Starting at Netware v5.1 it even looked like Linux when it booted up (greenie-weenies inside brackets, that sort of look).
The longterm goal is to offer corporations an integrated computing environment that does not need a license from Redmond. They now have the makings, but the integration part still has years to go, IMHO. In the meantime the marketing problem is still there. It'll be quite a challenge.
Novell is already on their way with netware for Linux. They started some time ago. Netware for Linux is the bridge which keeps the Novell name in the corporate shops. It also might stop the trend to dump netware as old and outdated. With SUSE, netware and XD2 this is going to be some package. Server side and desktop, with support options.
I have been a user of XD2 + red carpet and have got a few clients who use and like it as well. It is a step up over the base gnome.
RedHat and Novell are going to give MS fits.
I just downloaded and installed the latest Fedora Core(old RH Linux) and it looks really good. This may be the new debian with a newbie grade installer. Time will tell wether fedora is just a hobby version or the real deal that small businesses can use as servers and desktops. It has promise.