Red Hat Counters Oracle, Novell Linux Support Claims

At first glance, Red Hat’s biggest rival is Microsoft. But take a closer look and Red Hat seems to be equally concerned about two other fierce rivals. They are (1) Free Linux and (2) so-called low-cost Linux support offerings from Novell and Oracle. Here’s the story.

Red Hat on February 3 will host a webcast titled “Understanding the Risks of Free and ‘Low Cost’ Linux.” Red Hat’s event pitch is concise:

Hmmm… what’s does all that mean?

Returning Fire Against Novell, Oracle

Read between the lines and Red Hat seems to be countering key Linux support statements by Novell and Oracle. As you may recall…

Are customers and partners flocking to Red Hat Enterprise Linux support offerings from Novell and Oracle? Frankly, The VAR Guy doesn’t think so.

No doubt, Red Hat has financial momentum — as demonstrated by the company’s Q3 results, announced in December 2009. And Red Hat ranked atop The VAR Guy’s 2009 Open Source 50 report, which tracks the most promising open source channel partner programs. (The 2010 research report is underway now.) Plus, Red Hat is pushing beyond Linux and JBoss middleware to promote the hosted virtual desktop market.

So far, so good for Red Hat. But competitive Linux support claims from Novell and Oracle seem to have caught Red Hat’s attention. Red Hat will return fire on February 3.