Dell signs agreement with Microsoft and Novell
Dell will work with Microsoft and Novell(which owns Suse Linux) under an agreement that Novell and Microsoft had formed last year to make it Windows and Ubuntu work together. Dell had announced they would use Ubuntu for their computers. Dell seems to be going the Linux way more now.
Microsoft would offer corporates(and not us poor customers) license Windows in a package which support Suse Linux.
The agreement is obviously aimed at major customers like corporates and governments that rely on Windows and Suse Linux. Under the agreement, Microsoft will not sue for their technology patents that’s part of Suse.
This agreement will alleviate corporate customers’ fear of Microsoft lawsuits over their patents.
Dell’s embrace of the Novell-Microsoft agreement reflects a growing market reality: The two platforms of the future are Linux and Windows, and customers want them to work better together
-Susan Heystee, VP, strategic alliances, Novell.
Dell agreed to buy Suse Linux certificate from MS. Dell will then set up services and marketing targeted at switching non-Suse users to Suse Linux.
Dell is the first major systems provider to align with Microsoft and Novell in this collaboration, and we intend to lead in this space
-Rick Becker, VP, Dell Product group
Novell’s revenues come by way of customer support, which is in stark contrast with Microsoft, whose revenue comes from software sales.
All in all, I feel that this is a win-win situation. In my humble opinion, the only way people will ever stop piracy is when they have viable alternatives, like Linux! As of now, Linux is nowhere close to being ideal for the normal people. Of course, it is fine for geeks, who can use the command line utility, script programming etc., but for the normal non-geek users, Linux is still a hard nut to crack. Once it is cracked, more people will switch to Linux(including myself). Dell’s backing of Suse Linux, although owned by Novell(which is evil, by the way!) is a positive step towards a world without Windows domination.
