Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Hmmm. That's right: Novell owns SUSE.
I can see why VMware might be interested in acquiring it. Virtualization is a hot topic now, since you can reduce electrical and A/C costs and make better use of existing servers using it. Linux instances are a favorite thing to virtualize, and I can see VMware offering a version of VMware ESX server with pre-built SUSE images. VMware is trying to leverage its "first to market" advantage to stay ahead of competitors like Xen, and this is a way to do it.
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Or in the opposite direction, leverage SuSE as the basis for the hypervisor; ESX 3.0/3.5 were based on a modified 2.4 Linux kernel. Already, VMware Workstation supports both NetWare and SLES out of the box.
In addition VMware might find competition in the form of Oracle; they have Sun which means they now have VirtualBox, easily the closest competitor on the desktop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
I never could see MS buying it. What does Novell have that MS needs or wants?
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Easy: Less competition. Most recent desktop converts get glassy-eyed at the prospect of distro-hopping and tend (in my experience) to give up and go back to Windows. One less server running SLES is one more potential repeat Win2k8 customer. Also, fewer resources required for NetWare compatibility; after all if Novell isn't around to support it, why should MS?