05.30.07
Forbes Says Novell’s Business Stinks
This seems like a harsh article, but you may still wish to take a quick look.
Unfortunately for Novell, business isn’t good. Analysts expect the company’s second-quarter earnings will come in around $4.7 million on Wednesday–that’s a drop of of 50%. Worse yet, sales are set to slide to $235.1 million from $278.3 million. As a result, over the past year Novell’s shares have plodded along, dropping from $7.82 to $7.55.
[…]
The company could start buying back shares or it may even reward open-source developers with a few acquisitions, analysts say. Spreading a little of its money around in the open-source community may not make it any more popular, but at least it won’t be the only software company accused of selling out
This confirms the possibility of buybacks, which was mentioned last week.
Noteworthy: Novell’s (and Microsoft) Betrayal Illustrated Using an Analogy
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.