Smart Partner: Linux : who’s left standing?

“The weaker Linux players won’t consolidate. Instead, they’ll
just die.”

“Last Aug. 14, I predicted in our cover story “Linux Slugfest”
that Caldera and Red Hat would be the only major Linux distributors
left standing (see Linux SlugFest). Anyone still want a piece of
that bet? I didn”t think so.”

“Since then, SuSE has nearly abandoned the North American
business market. There will still be an English language version,
but with its U.S. cutbacks, you can forget about getting the
support you need to place SuSE Linux in businesses.”

“Also, second-tier Linux firms appear to be in a heap of
trouble. Stormix Technologies, for example, has both a firewall
Linux distribution and another that’s been customized for ISPs and
ASPs. The Vancouver, British Columbia, company made the right moves
in deals with resellers and integrators like ION Computer Systems
and NetStation. Nevertheless, Stormix ran out of cash and has filed
for bankruptcy. Corel is trying to get out of the Linux
distribution business, period.”

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