Microsoft-Novell Walk Under the Moonlight
link: original article - section: microsoft
Overnight, Microsoft and Novell made three announcements related to their now two-year-old interoperability agreement, including the soon-to-release beta of the Silverlight for Linux port.
Sometimes answers aren't easy when marketing spokespeople are programmed to talk marketing speak. After interviewing Microsoft and Novell spokespeople for 20 minutes, I still can't say what real world problems the companies' interoperability agreement solves. Can you, after listening to the podcast?
In the podcast, I speak with Sanjay Sidhu, who is Microsoft's director of marketing and business development for the Microsoft-Novell Partnership, and Susan Heystee, Novell's general manager for Global Strategic Alliances. I don't mean to belittle either Sanjay or Susan; they agreed to the podcast with just a few hours notice. They were friendly and understanding when I had to restart the recording because of a technical glitch.
Background: Microsoft and Novell announced their interoperability partnership on Nov. 2, 2006. The agreement is supposed to help businesses with mixed Linux and Windows environments to better operate and manage them. I see the primary benefits differently. Microsoft helps Novell sell more copies of SuSe Linux, while Microsoft lives with Linux on terms the company can accept.
