Novell's channel partners have not been happy lately. Novell knows that, and on Nov. 19, the Linux power announced a new initiative to increase revenue and profitability for solution providers and consulting partners that specialize in selling Novell technologies.

"So Novell really does now finally seem to own the Unix copyrights. Linux finds itself on a high-ground pedestal of long-term, low-risk use (unless Microsoft buys Novell [should have when they could have, eh?]). And IBM and Novell are closer than ever."

Okay, the headline is a bit dramatic. But the Sun-MySQL business combo makes The VAR Guy wonder: Will Novell wake up and start buying open source application providers … or is Novell doomed to repeat the exact same mistakes it made in the 1990s? Alas, Novell in 2008 looks a lot like Novell from a decade ago. That’s not good. Here’s why.

Network software giant Novell has claimed it is the first Linux vendor to achieve 5,000 certified ISV applications and has increased its Linux market share against Red Hat, according to IDC.

In the 1990's Novell's NetWare dominated the networking industry with over 70% of the global market share. Their technical certifications were the industry's gold standard and offered titles such as Certified Novell Engineer, Master Certified Novell Engineer, Certified Novell Directory Engineer, and Novell Administrator.

Novell’s latest quarterly financial results, revealed today, were a mixed bag for the SUSE Linux provider. Novell made progress in some areas. But didn’t really thrive in others. Where does the company go from here? The answers will likely surface at the Novell BrainShare. Here are the details.

Novell BrainShare started March 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company is gradually winning back channel partners like VARs and systems integrators, thanks to SUSE Linux. But so far, Novell doesn't seem to have a compelling story for the fastest growing portion of the channel -- managed services providers (MSPs). The big question: Do MSPs care about Novell?

Pro-Novell deception in the press and in blogs. "[Matt Asay] now comes out (yes, once more) to defend Novell’s latest FUD attack on Red Hat. "

Lots of Novell news ranging from SCO and Netware to hardware and people. WHAT a week of pranks it must have been for Novell. Between rumours of an IBM takeover to similar ones involving Microsoft, Novell sure needed a sense of humour. Here is another joke about Novell bidding for Linus Torvalds.