● 09.07.07

●● Novell Has an Image Problem

Posted in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Novell at 12:03 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Evidently, bloggers agree that Novell has public relations issues. Without a doubt, the deal with Microsoft did its image no good. Here is the opinion of a former Novell employee, Matt Asay (C|Net blogs):

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If Novell’s Linux business continues to grow, and it does this without the crutch of Microsoft, people will forgive and forget…slowly. In the meantime, Novell can’t pretend that it’s loved by the open-source community. The Microsoft deal did far too much damage to its credibility to expect that.

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Here is an opinion that’s even harsher. It comes from ZDNet blogs.

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My recent Novell post got some private push-back from a Novell spokesman who insisted that I was being harsh.

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I suspect many marketers, public relations experts and even executives entering open source for the first time don’t understand this point. They want to be judged on what they say today, and only today.

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Sorry, folks. New rule. Open source doesn’t forget.

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The valid point of this blog post aside, once again, Novell is going through the trouble of giving bloggers some trouble. I saw them pulling Matt Asay’s arm and Dana’s arm before. They sort of did this here, but not in a polite way.

Is it unacceptable to criticise the company whose move you disagree with? A company that sold out hundreds of thousands of developers who worked for well over a decade? Shades of SCO and Microsoft. Leave bloggers alone, Novell. Let them speak. Those who behave needn’t censor or scare their opposition.

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