The peculiar paths which Novell has followed cease to amaze. It seems as though everything is possible. As a lead developer from the Wine project said immediately after the deal had been made, it is expected (yet arguably so) that Novell will inherit SCO’s role. Whether it will also inherit SCO UNIX is something that remains to be seen. Have a look at this:

Novell is going to take back ownership of System V UNIX. It supposedly transferred this to SCO, but a Federal Judge found that the contracts had more holes than paper. Novell has leave to contest the agreements, and if SCO goes belly-up while the matter is in debate, Novell’s there to snatch up a very valuable property.

This speculation comes from Tom Yager. He is an Apple advocate/journalist whom I have always perceived as Linux-hostile. He once authored an article titled “Linux will get buried“. By all means, he makes the statement above with real confidence. It seems like a victim that grabs a criminal’s weapon. I certainly hope that Novell is not turning into its own enemy in the same way that an abused child, much to his/her misfortune, soon resembles his/her parents as he/she matures.

As I repeatedly argue, this Web site, by the large, supports Opensuse developers. It only addresses Novell management in its criticism, albeit obedience leads to conflicts. De Icaza, for example, has irritated a few people with his pro-Microsoft technology perspective, which has been noted for quite some time. This predates the deal with Microsoft, too.

A brief mention of the latest milestone would probably be appropriate nonetheless.

A Quiet Launch For OpenSUSE 10.2

Novell’s OpenSUSE project has released the latest version of its namesake Linux distribution, OpenSUSE 10.2. But you wouldn’t know it if you were waiting for an official announcement from Novell.

It is a non-event to many and a crossroad for many, too. Now is the best time to become Novell-independent.

It is not only Bruce Perens who debunks Novell apologism. Linux Journal has a piece that rebuts some poor argument from Miguel de Icaza.

Who created OpenOffice? Who bought it? Who opened it? Anyone ever hear of Star Division gmbh or Sun? Since when did Novell become the earliest contributor to OpenOffice.org? The earliest and largest external corporate contributor, maybe. I’d like to see some hard facts to back up an assertion like that (not that facts matter, as Miguel admitted), but his hyperbolic boasting of Novell’s contribution is obviously overblown. And is a contribution that doesn’t make it into the main code base really a contribution? After all, in the same blog entry, Miguel himself makes much of the fact that Novell’s OpenOffice.org really isn’t THE OpenOffice.org. It’s Novell’s unique version, patched and modified.

He moves on to criticising Novell’s insertion of Excel VBA and suggests the the community rejects all OpenOffice contributions from Novell. This is very consistent with Nicholas’ previous views on this deal.

As proof of this, allow me to quote this:

Here’s part of what Allchin said about how to deal with the competitive threat from Novell then:

“We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger….If you’re going to kill someone, there isn’t much reason to get all worked up about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger.”

To quote further from the same article:

Conlin used a variety of computer-generated illustrations, including one that showed 15 icons, each representing what she said was an illegal action taken by Microsoft in pursuit of its bid to become and remain a monopoly. The icons had titles like “exclusionary contract,” “technical sabotage,” “buying out the competition,” “espionage,” and “deception and misinformation.”

So, can we truly expect Microsoft to change its ways and actually assist Novell after the deal was made? Let the readers and observers decide.

The respectable Matthew Aslett, who is a Linux and Open Source advocate, certainly thinks so.

Dear Novell, please stop messing about with your Linux revenue figures. Thanks.

[...]

How can $13m be 32% more than $15m? What is the difference between “Linux platform products” and “Linux products and services”? I don’t know, but it is high time Novell stopped moving the goal posts and reported consistent figures for its Linux business.

[...]

1Q06
$56m “Open Platform Solutions”
(including $43m Open Enterprise Server and $13m “Linux Platform Products and other open source products”

2Q06
$57m “Open Platform Solutions”
(including $38m Open Enterprise Server and $10m “Linux Platform Products”

3Q06
$12m “Linux Platform Products”

4Q06
$13m “Linux Platform Products”

This looks pretty grim. In fact, it is also as grim as Microsoft’s attempt to hide reality using a $36 billion buyback, which gradually inflates the value of the stock.

First we had the analysts, but now we have some concrete figures and facts.

Novell earnings come up short

“Overall these are disappointing results,” said Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert, citing the lower-than-expected quarterly sales figure and Novell’s 2007 sales outlook.

Novell used to have the Linux community by its side. I used to be a huge Novell and SUSE advocate myself. With its declining lagacy products, there is not much that can save Novell now. It is hard to imagine that the sentiments throughout the community will encourage acquisition of Novell’s Linux products. More intersting, Novell is killing the very same company that it is presently becoming.

SCO shares closed Monday at $1.11, down 11 cents and 9 percent from last Friday’s trading. The company’s stock has been in freefall since Kimball’s ruling, dropping from $2.40 per share. SCO stock had traded above $4.50 before Wells’ earlier decision in June.

Maybe SCO will find sympathy in today’s news. Novell seems to inherit its place and share the same problem. SCO has malicious intent, while Novell is just being naive.

I suspect it is too late to tell Novell to wake up and retract. It has already fallen too deep into this unhealthy relationship which emptied its soul.

Groklaw explains why Novell’s deal with Microsoft is bad news.

This is Groklaw’s 2,838th article. We now have 10,545 members, who have worked very hard to disprove SCO’s scurrilous claims, and we did. We succeeded, beyond my hopes when we started. But here’s the sad part. As victory is in sight, Novell signs a patent agreement with Microsoft…

This comes amid some criticism which suggests that Groklaw has gone too radical.