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Novell acquires Ximian

Novell has announced the acquisition of Ximian, terms (of course) not disclosed. "Novell gains, and will carry forward, two key Linux market initiatives through Ximian that reinforce Novell's commitment to the open source community: GNOME, a project to provide a full-featured Linux desktop, and Mono, designed to allow applications developed using Microsoft .NET to run on Linux, UNIX, Windows and other platforms. The combination of Novell's network and infrastructure services with Ximian's Linux solutions provides compelling new value to customers leveraging the power of open source technologies."

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Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 14:31 UTC (Mon) by jjstwerff (subscriber, #4082) [Link] (2 responses)

I really hope that this will not stop ximian from being the enfant-terrible of the Linux-bases software builders.

They should continue building that software that they think is necessary and not the software that only Novell wants... They started with some projects that no one would consider pratical:
- a mail client (hundereds of those exsist already)
- a .net implementation for linux (riding de bear = Microsoft this time)
- they started gnome-basic (for future connectivity with macro's)
- they helped with openoffice (too much code there already = difficult)

None of the projects seems sensible but they are necessary...

So all the good luck to the Novell ximian department.

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 15:11 UTC (Mon) by lgarner (guest, #13638) [Link] (1 responses)

I'm also holding my breath. For years, Novell has been essentially forcing Windows desktops on their customers while trying to compete with Windows in the server. Now, maybe they'll focus on making their products work with "that other desktop OS" as well as they do with Windows. There is rumbling to that effect now, and the optimistic view is that this is another road to that goal.

I also really hope that they don't screw up Ximian. I use the Ximian desktop and Evolution and am quite happy with it. I want to see Ximian enhanced by Novell, not reduced by it.

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 15:46 UTC (Mon) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link]

If they do F??k up evolution, is because they dont understand much about Linux/FLOSS, and the instant after they have a fork of evolution or a rush out to Kmail.

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 15:32 UTC (Mon) by marduk (subscriber, #3831) [Link] (4 responses)

I'm not a big Ximian fan, but I do enjoy Evolution and love the GNOME project. I was a bit worried when Ximian (Helix Code) formed as a major force behind GNOME. Now that Novell has acquired Ximian, I'm scared.

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 15:35 UTC (Mon) by louie (guest, #3285) [Link] (2 responses)

Why? Like, seriously, why is a company wanting to spend money on GNOME scary? I don't understand, and I seriously want to :)

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 15:50 UTC (Mon) by steven (guest, #13639) [Link] (1 responses)

Didn't everyone believe a couple of years ago that AOL was going to spend money on Mozilla?

But then Mr. Gates & friends came over with a bag of money and <poof!> AOL dumps Mozilla.

Now replace Mozilla with Evolution, and AOL with Novell, and re-read.

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 17:39 UTC (Mon) by pointwood (guest, #2814) [Link]

Erhm...AFAIK, AOL *did* spend quite a lot of money on Mozilla...

Novell acquires Ximian

Posted Aug 4, 2003 15:54 UTC (Mon) by mmarq (guest, #2332) [Link]

why, GNOME is not XIMIAN, and Novell aint gonna control GNOME not even in their wildest dreams... i always install both desktops KDE and GNOME, but have always used the default Mandrake(because of menus and stiles) version instead of Ximian's... so, i belive we dont have nothing to worry about...

WHAT LINUX NEED IS A FULL INDEPENDENT AND FULL SPEED AHEAD FREEDESKTOP.ORG!

Red Carpet

Posted Aug 4, 2003 16:27 UTC (Mon) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link] (3 responses)

Ximian Red Carpet(TM) is the de facto standard for software updating across leading Linux distributions.

This is a real stretch, even for a press release. The correct answer is either Apt or RHN, unless one defines "leading Linux distributions" to mean distros that use Red Carpet.

Red Carpet

Posted Aug 4, 2003 17:59 UTC (Mon) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] (2 responses)

You missed "across leading Linux distributions". RHN only supports Red Hat; Red Carpet works with Debian, Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE, and Solaris. apt can now be used with RPM-based systems, thanks to Connectiva's work, but Red Carpet has the best cross-platform support, and is easier to use than the apt tools for non-programmers. Also, it doesn't invade your privacy like RHN does by storing the names of the packages you have installed at the other end.

I personally am more comfortable with apt, but Red Carpet is a nice tool. It sits on top of RPM- or .deb- based packaging systems, it does not replace them. The ability to use it as a channel for selling proprietary apps for multiple Linux flavors could, if properly developed, turn into a significant revenue source (and the fact that this service will come from Novell rather than Ximian will add to its credibility).

Red Carpet

Posted Aug 4, 2003 20:56 UTC (Mon) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link]

You missed "across leading Linux distributions".

You're right, I did. I actually just missed the word "across."

I'm no good with press releases. I get to about the third paragraph and my BS filter kicks in, and everything looks like "blah blah blah blah..."

Red Carpet

Posted Aug 5, 2003 1:22 UTC (Tue) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]

> The ability to use it as a channel for selling proprietary
> apps for multiple Linux flavors could, if properly developed,
> turn into a significant revenue source

Are you implying that this is a good thing?

Giving people easier access to proprietary software is counter productive. I suspect that Novell will do this but I won't be celebrating :)

Ciaran O'Riordan

What an awesome business model, they should patent it!

Posted Aug 4, 2003 18:02 UTC (Mon) by brouhaha (subscriber, #1698) [Link]

On the one hand The Canopy Group, through owning a big chunk of Novell, can sell Linux software. And on the other hand, the Canopy Group, through owning a big chunk of The SCO Group, can sue everyone who buys it. What a racket!


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