Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

If I were Oracle, I'd look at offering a bundle: Oracle 11 itself, Linux for it to run under, customized for the task, and VirtualBox to virtualize it, preconfigured for Oracle/Linux instances. Install it on the bare metal, and Poof!, you've got a running virtualised Oracle setup, ready to expand. Oracle costs enough that I'd assume my customers weren't interested in spending more than they had to on the hardware to run it.

Oracle already have the bare metal in Sun's SPARC 2; it was one of the big reasons they acquired Sun in the first place...one-stop shop.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

A former employer ran Windows, Solaris, and Linux (with some legacy Netware they were working on getting rid of.) Their public facing web servers ran on Windows 2003 server with IIS. I asked the guy responsible for them about security concerns, and his response "I keep them fully patched", then put his hands together and moved his lips in a pantomime of heartfelt prayer.

The opposite of my employer's IT guy who, upon my mentioning Linux, visibly shuddered as if I offered him raw liver.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

They're flush with cash, but I really don't see the ROI in buying Novell. If they did, I'd expect the reason to be indirect: throw a spanner into someone else's works by preventing them from buying it.

Nooo, Ballmer would never be that spiteful. </sarcasm>

At closing Friday, Novell stock was trading at about US$6 a share. From Bloomberg:

The company rejected a $5.75-a-share takeover offer in March from hedge fund Elliott Associates LP, saying it undervalued the company, and it has since been considering alternatives including the possibility of a sale.
[MKM’s head derivatives trader Etai] Friedman cited MKM’s software analyst, Aaron Schwartz, who estimates that a deal to sell Novell may be struck at as much as $8 a share, valuing the company at $2.8 billion. That’s 36 percent above the stock’s average price over the past 100 days; the software company hasn’t closed above that level since October 2007. The stock could fall to $5.75 a share if there is no deal, according to Schwartz.

Source: Bloomberg.com

With the above being the case and a failed deal being a requisite for MS to even get on the field, the resulting $5.75 stock price would make it a $2B deal for MS. They could keep what they want and spin off what they don't (or don't have the rights to) since the idea appears to be to break Novell up in the first place, thus making back some of that initial outlay. You'll recall Google bought YouTube (for $1.65B) and hasn't made dime one from it directly, but it was a hell of a strategic move in light of Google's sweetheart deal with Verizon allowing Google-related traffic preferential treatment on VZW's network; part of the ROI on Novell could easily come from playing the spoiler as you suggest. I think that if Ballmer & company wanted to, the hard part would be getting it past the board; they could justify/rationalize the rest.

In a related situation, it appears the corporate trainwreck known as SCO is trying to capitalize on this, since their tenuous hold on Linux was through Novell.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

It's cheaper if you buy it at your local bait shop.

[bjones6416]

Well, I'm not a veteran, but I just retired as a civilian employee from the Department of the Army. I issued DD 214's to a lot of soldiers, though -- any of you remember what that is?

[pshrynk]

I still know where mine is. I need it every time I apply for a new state license.

[pshrynk]

I'm packing for a trip to The Airport for the next week. Going to learn about Mind Body Medicine.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

I'm packing for a trip to The Airport for the next week. Going to learn about Mind Body Medicine.

At the Airport?

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by bjones6416

Well, I'm not a veteran, but I just retired as a civilian employee from the Department of the Army. I issued DD 214's to a lot of soldiers, though -- any of you remember what that is?

I DO I DO!!! Way back in 'the day' I used to have to keep track of that for my husband....it was a very important piece of paper...

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

I still know where mine is. I need it every time I apply for a new state license.

Yep. Part of my standard spiel was, "Keep this with your important papers. Don't mark on it or write on it, and don't give anybody your original."

[phenomshel]

Testing...aha!! Ok, that's how you do it. New cover for my Sony!! I have been drooling over this for months - it's the Tupper Quote cover in Leaf...originally designed for the nook, as you can probably see. But other than the Sony being a tad too short, it works great... and the Sony doesn't move...even if you turn it upside down and shake it. I know, because I did just exactly that. I kind of like the extra room at the top, too..gives me a place to clip the light without having to clip it to the Sony itself.

[kennyc]

Cool Shel!

[desertgrandma]

Beautiful, shel. Daffy has a green one too, I have a red one, we'll have to do some kind of Christmas thread featuring our covers!

[recluse]

Looks great, Shel!

Soon it will be the must have item for the intellectual type bombShel about town!

[phenomshel]

I also saw a K3 today up close and personal - the Target in DeKalb had a demo unit. Wow, it is TINY. A lot smaller than I was expecting. I had my Sony with me, and did a screen comparison...there is a BIG difference between the K3's Pearl and the Sony 600 with that extra layer in the touchscreen. I'm very happy with my Sony though, especially with the new cover

[recluse]

Dressed as "naughty" elves, Desertgrandma?

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by recluse

Dressed as "naughty" elves, Desertgrandma?

Were you here last year when KK did her outfit?

Now THAT was a naughty elf!