[olug] Linux, Networks and NFS/NIS

[Bill Brush]

Ok, their stock is low, and profits are down.   That's true of 90%
(probably more than that actually) of the technology and software
companies.  Of all the major PC manufacturers only Dell turned a profit in
the last year.  AMD has had something like one profitable quarter in the
last 5 years.  If you want to see bad stock fluctuations look at Priceline.
The last time I checked it was under $2 from a high of $130. I think you'd
be hard pressed to find a single technology or software company who's
profits and stock prices are up.  You'd probably be hard pressed to find
many companies who are even reporting a profit.

People have been predicting Novell's demise for the last 8 years and
they're still here.  They aren't alone either (Sun, Oracle, EMC, and Cisco
have all hit hard times) I am generally skeptical of company market-speak,
but Novell has actually shown some signs of having a plan (something
lacking previously).  They have a new marketing campaign aimed at the money
men.  They have a business-friendly cross-platform strategy and they're
embracing open standards.  In case you missed it, later this year they're
releasing a services software package for Linux.  From a technical merit
standpoint anyone who's actually used their products for any length of time
is a fan of them (generally).   They're stable and reliable.

Sounds to me like a company that is in the same market downturn as everyone
else in the IT field, and  that has a plan to move out of it.

Of course YMMV.

Bill





>Novell's largest profit this quarter will come from selling $120M worth
>of their office space in Silicon Valley.  I'm sorry, but tht sounds like
>a company in trouble to me.