
Thread beginning with comment 179720
Novell's mistake
by Don T. Bothers on Tue 7th Nov 2006 23:40 UTC
Don T. Bothers
Member since:

The problem with Novell is that they came into the Linux game thinking they were the big dog, thinking they will toss a bit of money here and there, and then end up owning the Linux scene. But because they did not understand Linux, they ended up destroying a perfectly good distribution.

Novell's biggest mistake was their failure to understand the market. They failed to understand that what enterprise customers really wanted was a standard Linux distribution that worked with 3rd party applications, had a long life time, and that had a company behind it that enterprises can go to with their problems. Enterprises did not want a Linux leader, they wanted a company that was part of the Linux movement. Because Novell did not understand this, and because Novell wanted to own the Linux movement, they tried to gain marketshare by differentiating themselves from everyone else. So rather than offering standard Linux with solid support, they tried to stuff Mono, Ximian, XGL, Reiser, and their proprietary products down people's throats. Enterprises wanted a standard supported Linux distribution but Novell only had the "new and improved SuSE" to offer.

Edited 2006-11-07 23:41

Reply Score: 5

RE: Novell's mistake
by macisaac on Wed 8th Nov 2006 01:32 in reply to "Novell's mistake"
macisaac Member since:



Reply Parent Score: 3