Novell: Customers are coming back

Do you think any companies have actually held off their Linux deployments waiting for this kind of announcement?

I think it's a factor but I don't think its the biggest piece of the jigsaw. I think there are still some pieces around application integration and the desktop client -- I think there are still some evaluations happening there. But I think it will be one of the factors now that will give them the tick in the box to move ahead.

Moving onto the completion of the SuSE acquisition, now the deal has been rubber-stamped are you planning to make any announcements around further integration between the Ximian and SuSE product sets?

There have already been some announcements around this. Bearing in mind that SuSE Linux and Ximian use the same development pool, we wanted to make sure that we gave customers very close and strong integration between those two. You will probably see some announcements around this coming out at BrainShare in the US in March.

What do think are the major factors holding back companies from deploying desktop Linux and how are you tackling them?

There are a couple. The first one, and the one that Novell brings to the party, is the ability to provide a global support infrastructure. There are also a couple of issues in terms of the user experience, you have companies who might say, "Who do I really want to move off of their Windows environment to a Ximian desktop?" I think companies will be very careful who they move. An employee who just does basic word-processing, some browser applications, and email -- those will be the users in any corporate environment who could take advantage at an early stage. However, someone who is a power user on Excel, with multiple macros running, wouldn't move initially.

To take advantage of your indemnification offer companies will need to upgrade and sign up for an extended support contract. Do you think some people could see this as Novell seeking to benefit from the threat of the SCO lawsuit?

I don't think so. It is an offer we are making to customers who make the commitment in return. A customer who takes a support contract is showing a commitment to the technology, a commitment to the company and a commitment to their future with Linux. So I think its just part of a two-way commercial arrangement.