“U.S.-based Novell’s takeover of Linux distributor SuSE is the
strongest indication yet that Germany’s Franconia is turning into
Europe’s ‘Linux Valley.’“The Nuremberg company SuSE (the initials stand for ‘System und
Software Entwicklung,’ or ‘System and Software Development’) has
come up with an easy-to-use software package for both businesses
and individuals based on Linux, an open-source computer operating
system once familiar only to devoted computing freaks. SuSE’s
success drew the attention of US software giant Novell, which
bought the German company in 2004. Novell now aims to become the
world’s leading Linux vendor. Programmers are already envisaging a
‘Linux Valley’ in the middle of Germany’s Franconia region, where
tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost in recent
years…”