New Feature on Bucky's Blog

Check out my latest links of interest which is a little further down on my blog. I'm constantly bookmarking different web sites and then searching through my bookmarks later on for reference. Well now you can see what links have been of interest to me. The links are posted here and I think could be very useful. They are IT / Novell / Linux related links, both good TID's that I find and also good articles.

- Bucky

MS and Novell Dance

Novell and Microsoft are learning to dance together. Or should I say Novell is dancing with the devil. Well however you take this, surprise, shock.... Pigs can now fly and it could be snowing in hell... One of the major stories today was the announcement that these two old foes are now collaborating together. They said that this has been in the works since around last April and Novell was the one to approach Microsoft.

Who loses and who wins?

Losers: Red Hat, Oracle
Another adversary of Microsoft - Oracle is offering a version of Linux based on the Red Hat Distribution that will be cheaper than Red Hat and will be supported in enterprises that is cheaper than Red Hat. Red Hat shares were tumbling this week because of this news and it looked that Novell was being squeezed out of the picture. This helps paint the picture of Microsoft's agenda and motives. Microsoft needs to fend off the blow from Oracle and at the same time jump into the Open Source Pool.

Winners: Microsoft, Novell, Open Source, and most importantly Enterprise Customers.
There are many more winners than losers with this announcement. I noticed that HP was on the podium during the press release. I couldn't help wondering what IBM and Dell were thinking about this announcement.

This is HUGE for Novell. Novell has a very strong friend and ally. Novell gets a stamp of approval in the enterprise data centers. Microsoft endorses Novell SUSE Linux!

This is HUGE for the customer. Anytime there is collaboration it's a big win.

Here is a summary of key items in today's announcement:
1. Interoperability
The lawyers have made sure that Microsoft and Novell will not step on each others patents. Microsoft and Novell will work together bridging propietary source code with Open Source code.

2. Collaboration

• a. Virtualization
• b. SUSE Linux on Windows. Windows on SUSE Linux. Paravirtualization
• c. Web Services - bringing Linux and Windows services together. .NET and MONO
• d. eDirectory and Active Directory Federation. Think AD on Linux.
• e. ODF Open Document Format. Microsoft Office and Open Office

This message and announcement solidifies Open Source in the Data Center. While Novell and Microsoft will still compete, they will also collaborate.

SysAdmin said it best - There is a disturbance in the Force!

Microsoft and Novell Major Announcement

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT - ) is entering into an agreement with Novell Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL -) that will allow open-source Linux software to work with the company's Windows software, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Microsoft plans to make a major announcement later on Thursday, but declined to comment on the article.

Shares of Novell rose 16.7 percent on the news, while open-source rival Red Hat Inc. (NASDAQ:RHAT - ) shares fell 4.5 percent in afternoon Nasdaq trade.

Link Here for CBS MarketWatch News