I am inclined to agree with this. Netware is dead. So complete adoption of Linux needs to happen for Novell to be able to stay focused on the prize.

When I think about Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL), I picture a lumbering dinosaur, tethered to the decaying remains of a once-great operating system. The cost of supporting Netware, Novell’s old flagship OS, is keeping the company from wholeheartedly joining the exploding Linux market.

New CEO Ron Hovsepian has his work cut out for him trying to turn this badly limping beast around. As Novell’s president and COO, Hovsepian was a driving force in Novell’s two-year effort to steer the company toward “software for the open enterprise.” But that direction still leans as heavily on Netware as on Novell’s other operating system, SUSE Linux.

As a result, both legs of the operating platform are lagging behind. Netware fell out of favor years ago, leaving its customer base and revenues dwindling even as the costs of supporting those customers remain high. But Novell would have to sacrifice the Netware community, and make significant changes to its corporate culture, in order to fully support SUSE and make it a credible competitor for Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT) — much less Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows… Source: The Motley Fool