tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10118571.post-58062347662752079132008-04-10T01:03:00.000-07:002008-04-10T01:04:26.201-07:00<DIV>The other day I was talking to someone at GWAVA who has a cousin who owns a fairly good size company that does business on the Internet. Over 100 employees with a good product in a good market.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>The cousin called up my friend a few days before our conversation. It seems he needed some advice working with Novell. He had never worked with Novell but Microsoft was recommending Novell.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Well, not recommending Novell specifically.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>My friend's cousin was in a meeting with Microsoft to look at doing a deal on MSN. The Microsoft team asked a polite question..."What version of Linux are you using for your servers?"</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>The answer - Red Hat</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Microsoft then politely asked if it would be possible for the company to switch all of their servers over to SUSE Linux. It wasn't part of the deal, but Microsoft was making a 'soft' request that the company make the switch.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>The company owner didn't have any problem and easily agreed. Then, realizing he didn't know anything about SUSE other than it was owned by Novell, he made the call to his cousin at GWAVA since he knows that GWAVA does something with Novell (GroupWise) and could probably help point him in the right direction.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>I share this story because it is indicative of what is happening in the market. Microsoft is putting its weight behind Novell's SUSE strategy. This was one small incident, but if it is happening on a regular basis then this is good news for Novell. It is also something that Red Hat should be concerned about. They just lost a customer and might not even know why.</DIV>Richard Blisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06711443052326619281noreply@blogger.com