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Novell was left for dead years ago, another casualty of Microsoft's hegemony over computer operating systems. At the height of its popularity in the early 1990's, Novell's Netware software controlled 70 percent of the market in network server operating systems - software that enables desktop computers to share files and communicate over a network. But for nearly a decade, the company has been losing market share to Windows NT, Unix and other programs at a rate of nearly 10 percent a year. By 2002, Netware's share of the market had shrunk to 7 percent. For the first nine months of...

Analysts and industry experts comment on Novell's $210m acquisition of SuSE Linux Novell's agreement to acquire SuSE Linux for $210m is good news for the Linux community and shows that the firm is unconcerned about the fear, uncertainty and doubt surrounding Linux following SCO Group's legal action against IBM. And IBM's investment of $50m in Novell as part of the deal has meant that the distribution and support gap which SCO left in the United Linux consortium has been plugged. "This really is very, very good news for Linux," Gary Barnett, principal analyst at Ovum, told vnunet.com. "It's a very...

Flaws threaten Microsoft SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp.'s offer this week of cash bounties for informants who help it collar virus-writers reflects more than just an escalation of the war on those who would exploit the dominant power in software. The campaign reveals just how much of a threat to Microsoft's bottom line security flaws now represent. When the Blaster worm hobbled hundreds of thousands of computers around the world in August — only the latest plague to exploit a flaw in Windows operating systems — it also hurt Microsoft's ability to book new contracts with corporate customers. For the first...

Organizations running Linux unwilling to pay SCO Group Inc's IP license could find themselves running Unix or Windows, under a planned exit clause from the company. SCO Group has revealed it plans migration options extending the intellectual property program launched earlier this year. Outlined in SCO's latest 8K Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, no further details were given. However, a company spokesperson told ComputerWire SCO would probably provide customers with financial incentives and discounts to migrate to SCO Unix, other vendors' Unix, and what he referred to as "other proprietary operating systems" but probably Windows. "We are offering a...

SCO isn't putting out press releases like it used to. Surely it wants you to know that it has cooked up yet another way to be loathsome to Linux. It will expand its licensing program (because it's been such a success, I'm sure) and now they will be "offering a migration path" so their customers can escape Linux and return to proprietary operating systems. Note the plural, please. Like, for example, Unix, even a competitor's Unix. Some say they mean Microsoft. Well, well. Why ever might they want to send their customers to Microsoft? Here's what it says in SCO's...

Is there any significance to what Web server/platform combinations 2004 presidential candidates are using? As we swing into the thick of the 2004 electoral playoffs, it's interesting to see what kinds of platforms are running under the candidates' official campaign Web sites. Netcraft has a handy feature called "What's that site running?" that lets us see combinations of Web servers and OS platforms. So here's a quick rundown, in alphabetical order: George W. Bush: Microsoft IIS on Windows 2000 Wesley Clark: Apache on Linux Howard Dean: Apache on FreeBSD John Edwards: Microsoft IIS "behind a computer running NetWare" Richard Gephardt:...

Is there any significance to what Web server/platform combinations 2004 presidential candidates are using? As we swing into the thick of the 2004 electoral playoffs, it's interesting to see what kinds of platforms are running under the candidates' official campaign Web sites. Netcraft has a handy feature called "What's that site running?" that lets us see combinations of Web servers and OS platforms. So here's a quick rundown, in alphabetical order: George W. Bush: Microsoft IIS on Windows 2000 Wesley Clark: Apache on Linux Howard Dean: Apache on FreeBSD John Edwards: Microsoft IIS "behind a computer running NetWare" Richard Gephardt:...

Two major moves by well-known Linux companies have the open-source community worried that the consumer is being left behind. On Monday, in an expected move, Red Hat said that it would stop supporting all consumer versions of Red Hat Linux by the end of April and that it planned to support only its business version of the operating system. On Tuesday, enterprise software maker Novell surprised the high-tech world when announced an agreement to buy software maker SuSE Linux for $210 million. For the business world, the deals seemingly confirmed the corporate role for the communal operating system. However, many...

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...

US Army 'going to Linux' after OS switch for GI PDA By John Lettice Posted: 27/10/2003 at 15:44 GMT The US Army has abandoned Windows and chosen Linux for a key component of its "Land Warrior" programme, according to a report in National Defense Magazine. The move, initially covering a personal computing and communications device termed the Commander's Digital Assistant (CDA), follows the failure of the previous attempt at such a device in trials in February of this year, and is part of a move to make the device simpler and less breakable. According to program manager Lt Col Dave...

Here's SCO's Reply to IBM's Amended Answer with Counterclaims. The most significant thing they say is that the GPL isn't enforceable or applicable, and in paragraph 16 that Linux is an unauthorized "version" of UNIX: "Denies the allegations of paragraph 16 and alleges that Linux is, in actuality, an unauthorized version of UNIX that is structured, assembled and designed to be technologically indistinguishable from UNIX, and practically is distinguishable only in that Linux is a 'free' version of UNIX designed to destroy proprietary operating system software." I'm guessing you have a few words to say on that. In their...

OCTOBER 23, 2003 How Microsoft's Misunderstanding of Open Source Hurts Us All By Robert X. Cringely This week, speaking at a Gartner conference in Orlando, Florida, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said some fascinating things about Linux and about Open Source software in general. And thanks to those remarks and the blinding realization they caused for me, I finally understand exactly why Microsoft doesn't understand Open Source. Ballmer asked, "Should there be a reason to believe that code that comes from a variety of people around the world would be higher-quality than from people who do it professionally? Why is its...

Dear Microsoft: I've long admired your warrior spirit, your commitment to winning, and your drive for success. Lots of companies and individuals have enjoyed many of your products and derived significant value from them; your financial success has made many people inside and outside of your company very wealthy; and you have created a global brand that's the envy of marketers around the world. Several years ago, realizing the Internet and the Web were about to make you as relevant as Gray Davis, you executed what could well be the fastest and most dramatic corporate reorientation anyone's ever seen. You...

<p>Hot on the heels of The SCO Group's announcement that BayStar Capital has invested $50 million in the company, questions are being raised about whether Microsoft Corp. may have had a role in that investment.</p> <p>As an investment firm, BayStar leads, creates and participates in a number of PIPEs (Private Investments in Public Equity). Many of these deals involve investment money from other companies, including Microsoft, sources said.</p>

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 17, 2003 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As the economy continues its recovery, the demand for top-quality Linux/Unix software developers seems to be on its way back to levels not seen since the late-90s. With its focus on providing the best Linux/Unix-based C++, Java, and Perl application developers to Fortune 500 companies, PerlUSA is seeing growth well ahead of the general economy. This growth is about to accelerate even faster, as PerlUSA gears up to help IBM and others find top talent in 2004. "IBM's announcement about needing 10,000 skilled technology workers in 2004 is obviously great news...

Press Release Source: The SCO Group, Inc. The SCO Group Closes $50 Million Equity Financing Thursday October 16, 5:16 pm ET $50 Million Private Investment Transaction Led by BayStar Capital Provides SCO With Funding for Future Software Development, SCOx Web Services Partnerships And Acquisitions, Future Licensing Opportunities and the Protection of the Company's Intellectual Property Assets LINDON, Utah, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The SCO® Group (SCO) (Nasdaq: SCOX - News), the owner of the UNIX operating system, today announced it has received a $50 million private investment led by BayStar Capital, an investment fund that is a leader in providing...

Facing wholesale rejection of its demands for payment for Unix licenses from corporate Linux users, the SCO Group announced it would not invoice enterprises using the operating system. Earlier this year, SCO filed a multibillion-dollar suit against IBM, claiming intellectual property violations. SCO said Big Blue lifted code from System V Unix, which SCO owns, and contributed it to the Linux kernel. The Lindon, Utah, vendor also threatened Linux users in the Fortune 500 with invoices for Unix licenses and legal action if those enterprises failed to pay. Several recent polls from Forrester Research Inc. and Credit Suisse Boston, however,...

Microsoft has come a long way in its understanding of security over the last five years, but comments made last week by its chief executive Steve Ballmer go to show it needs to change not only its approach, but must recognize that it doesn't operate in a vacuum. In particular, his comment that he wishes security researchers would just shut their mouths is a sure sign that Ballmer just doesn't get it. His ambit scenario would see researchers only telling Microsoft about bugs they find. He actually cited the good of the world for his reasoning. At least he didn't...

The SCO Group has backed off a plan to send invoices to corporate users in order to prod them into buying licenses for their use of Linux, an operating system the company argues violates its Unix intellectual property.

SCO backs off Linux invoice plan Last modified: October 15, 2003, 3:24 PM PDT By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com The SCO Group has backed off a plan to send invoices to corporate users in order to prod them into buying licenses for their use of Linux, an operating system the company argues violates its Unix intellectual property. In addition, the Lindon, Utah-based company has extended until Oct. 31 a deadline after which it planned to double prices for the Linux license. Previously, the company had said the prices would increase Wednesday. "The executives have said we haven't had...