Novell joins Microsoft in Anti-Linux FUD

[z0mbie]

Has anyone read this article? I'd like to hear what the Ubuntu community thinks of this:

http://alexvalentine.org/?p=594


The Novell “partnership” with Microsoft has been a hot topic in Linux circles since it was announced a few years ago. Recently, Novell and Microsoft introduced a joint-marketing site to promote their collaboration.

A few years ago, I had really high hope’s for Novell’s forays in to Linux. However; bad move after bad move has left me with no confidence in Novell or their Linux products. I can’t say I was shocked to find this work of misinformation touting the “benefits” of Novell over Redhat and “unpaid” Linux.

Novell has this lovely chart to highlight the benefits of SUSE over “unpaid” Linux. “Unpaid” is a complete spin word, sounding like something Karl Rove cooked up in a focus group.

Novell FUD Chart:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/7970/novellfuddd2.jpg

With the exception of phone and on-Site support, community based Linux does everything listed in this table. As someone who was worked with Novell and Redhat in multiple enterprise environments, their phone support offerings are not very good. On-site support? For Linux? Why would anyone need a Novell presence on-site? Unless you’re doing a training or consulting engagement (ie not support,) their is no need for Novell to come on site.

Online support with community distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian is generally far superior to Novell’s online support. Novell’s Suse forums are a ghost town compared to the Ubuntu community.

Security and system updates via community Linux outclass Novell. Novell’s update system via yast is woefully inadequate. Debian and Ubuntu provide a much better mechanism for updates. Novell provides a crappy method for patching SLES systems, because they want their big customers to buy Zenworks to handle their Linux infrastructure.

In a nutshell, nearly every point in the Novell vs. “Unpaid” section is wrong with the exception of phone and on-site support. Having dealt with Novell and other commercial distributions in the past, phone support is completely overrated. Typically, community based distributions offer higher quality support for no cost.

So why buy Novell and Redhat? If you are using Linux as the platform for Oracle or some other proprietary product, typically commercial distros are the only route. Is there any other valid reason? Its certainly not for the quality of support.

I guess it boils down to the fact that most IT shops want someone to blame/call when something goes terribly wrong.

[littletinman]

ok, well i really hate when Pro windows people bash linux for things that aren't even true. The support i get with ubuntu on the forums is far superior for that of Windows (or at least in my expirience). the wonderful thing about linux is that it's free and supported by the community.

[HangukMiguk]

Maintenance: Can be true and untrue. But then, if a user jumps into a new Linux distro that has no current community of users, then they should realize they're getting into a virtual pandora's box when it comes to maintenance, whereas going to a distro with longstanding community maintenance (Ubuntu, Gentoo, etc.), is less risky.

Bug support: Yes and no with unpaid. Yes, bugs clearly get worked on in Linux, but I suppose within a paid distribution if you encounter bugs, they give you a tracker and are actually paying people to focus on said bug. I don't know.

Online support: Are people too stupid to even jump on IRC anymore?

On-site support: Join a LUG.

Phone support: I trust that about as far as I can throw a call center anymore.

Security: Second worst comparison made.

System Updates: And this is the first.

[Half-Left]

It's for enterprise, they want a company support them, SUSE has done this for years.

[bufsabre666]

when you factor in its enterprise linux its a fair chart, when you consider how many computers theyre prolly ganna be running these are extremely important factors to consider, the article is focusing in like theyre talking about the regular desktop distros, truth is you cant just get the solution from all the random web forums all the time, althogh community is important its not always ganna have the solution

the updates thing is ********, ill give them that unless theyre comparing to compiling it yourself from scratch

[mister_pink]

All those system update's I got this morning must've been a figment of my imagination...

[FrostDust]

This doesn't seem to me to be as much "anti-linux FUD", as much as "reasons you should pay us for support." For most personal users (whom Ubuntu is targeted at), community support through forums like these are fine enough. If you're running the critical computer systems for a business, you're going to need, or want availible, stuff like on-site and phone support, etc., because if something happens to your servers, your boss wouldn't want to wait for someone to answer your forum post as your company is loosing large amounts of money due to downtime.

I don't understand the last two items on that checklist, unless Novell would directly assist you in those fields, such as making unique profiles for what security/system updates you need, etc.

[ilrudie]

The reason businesses buy Linux is simply CYA mentality. They just want another company on the hook if something breaks.

[50words]

On-site support: Join a LUG.

Linux User Groups are supporting enterprises these days? Wow. They've come a long way!

[Mr. Picklesworth]

No maintenance on free code.
...yet they say their kernel is stable?

Ah well, that's a bit odd. Actually, I'm skeptical about whether this is actually not blown out of proportion. ...Or perhaps it isn't Novell speaking here. Then again, I wouldn't be shocked either. Any links to the actual source text from Microvell?

The Novell folks seem to have acted pretty well, all things considered, and it would be pretty dumb of them to disregard OpenSUSE there. Not that the claims are wrong: Businesses like and need commercial support

[Dragonbite]

Oh, I would just love to see the expression on our sysadmin's face when our VM server goes down and is told he has to go get support from IRC?! Priceless!

Or to call the local LUG (who, btw is probably at work themselves during the day) for help?

No offense, but I'm a little hesitant to place my employment status in the hands of somebody who tinkers with something in their off-time and hope they know the ins-and-outs of virtualization as our mission-critical virtual servers are spewing out "out of memory" errors!

Realize it isn't being targeted to the technical people who will work on it, it's targeted to to the executives and people one or more layers separated from the hum of the server room(s)!

[dasunst3r]

Yeah -- that chart is definitely false. You will receive security and updates, but the support options available is the community support, which is relatively limited.

[Twitch6000]

Yeah -- that chart is definitely false. You will receive security and updates, but the support options available is the community support, which is relatively limited.

Limited my you know what you have the community,google,the distro page and plus more that I probably do not know about.If that is limited well I am dumb and shouldn't use Linux.

Really though I find it sad that Microsoft has taken over Novell :(,

[aysiu]

The problem with this FUD is its false dichotomy.

It makes it sound as if you have only two choices: Download and compile Linux source code yourself and support yourself. Buy SLED from Novell and buy Novell support. Ridiculous, of course.

Red Hat will also offer support, and you don't have to compile source code yourself. So does Ubuntu.