30 Minute Interview

"Novell's legacy is our future"

Juergen Geck CTO, SUSE Linux

Getting acquired by Novell lets SUSE Linux use the extra cash to improve customer support, expand its product portfolio and build on synergies between the two companies

*What has been the impact of being acquired by Novell been on SUSE's product roadmap?

The merger with Novell has given us muscle power. The huge sales force of Novell combined with SUSE's base of support engineers makes a big difference. SUSE Linux now has a stronger support model. On the products side, Novell has some offerings built on the Netware kernel which could now be put on top of the Linux kernel as well. For example, Novell is very strong in the identity management tools market. So, in a way Novell's legacy is our future.

*Virtualisation on Linux is a new concept. Can you elaborate?

In the future, virtualisation is going to be increasingly important for Linux vendors. Today, many companies deploy servers on an application basis. This often leads to the under utilisation of hardware. The solution is to virtualise the hardware layer. Given the existing plethora of hardware from different vendors, the only answer is to have a standardised OS. In the current scenario, the only standardised OS across platforms right from embedded systems to mainframes is Linux. Linux is also the only OS that has support from multiple vendors representing the server and the processor market. In the future, the virtualisation capability embedded into Linux would make it possible to do better load balancing and ensure the effective use of hardware. Virtualisation is going to be a strong feature in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 that will be released next year.

*In a market dominated by Red Hat, what do you think is SUSE Linux's advantage?

One of the least known facts about SUSE Linux is that unlike other vendors we have a single code base from which we have built the software for servers, the desktop and for other applications. This capability helps us quickly ramp up customised versions catering to the needs of different markets-be it the desktop, servers or the embedded space. This also means that there is tight integration between all these products.

*Linux on the desktop has not made even a minor impact? What is lacking?

While it is still a long way off before we can see end customers embracing Linux on the desktop, we see a big demand for Linux in the enterprise. As there is tight integration between our desktop and our server versions due to a single code base, we see SUSE Linux playing in the enterprise Linux desktop space in a big way.

Srikanth R P