Ubuntu leader speaks on Oracle/Redhat and Novell/Microsoft

The Register has posted an interview with Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu.
Mark explains his opinion on the Oracle/Redhat news:

"I think it's great that Oracle has entered the Linux market, but the specific tactic they have chosen is going to be very impractical," Shuttleworth said, in an interview with The Register at Google's headquarters. "It is really hard to maintain a fork of a binary platform.

"Larry Ellison was basically saying that Oracle will keep Red Hat Linux the same but then also make it better. The end result of that will be death by a thousands paper cuts. There will be lots and lots of little incompatibilities.

"So, practically, in two or three years, I expect them either to buy Red Hat and just say, 'Fine. This is our platform.' Or fork it and say, 'Here is Oracle Linux. We built it, and forget that compatibility thing.' Or to use something like Ubuntu where they don't have to rip the trademarks out and they don't have to feel like they have to pay us money."

I find it interesting that Mark suggests that Oracle could sell support for Ubuntu. You would think that Mark would want his company to be the primary support vendor for Ubuntu. However, from what I have seen of Mark, he does not appear to be concerned about cornering the support market. For example, if you look at the Ubuntu Support page, you will see links to Ubuntu Partners and the Ubuntu Marketplace, where users can find paid support options from various companies.

Perhaps Mark truly believes that the world will be a better place when people of all backgrounds have access to high-quality free software. There is a principle that the more resources that are applied to open source software, the better it becomes for everyone (not just paying customers). With that in mind, if Oracle decided to begin improving and supporting Ubuntu, it would be a "good" thing.

Next, Mark comments on the Novell/Microsoft deal:

"Fundamentally, I think Microsoft is making an intellectual property play. The second thing is 'follow the money.' We see $240m from Microsoft and $40m back from Novell.

"I am sure that Novell just got paid $200m to be on that stage, and Microsoft is going to expect a return on their investment. And not from Novell.

"They are looking to establish, I believe, a framework which gives them a revenue base regardless of the OS.

"We haven't seen the details of the deal. Novell hasn't seen the real plan. The industry is littered with companies that have fought with Microsoft, then went to Microsoft as a cowered partner to do some small deal and then just got axed. Palm, Sybase and, um, Novell."

It looks like Mark is in agreement with many other technology pundits about the negative aspects of this deal.

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