The Sikh Geek

I saw this article interviewing Markus Rex, General Manager of Novell’s SUSE Linux Business Unit, and Applied Technology Strategist, Paul Kangro. It stated that

In the server space we have 30-40%, globally, and this is slightly more in Australia and New Zealand. In fact, since people have been able to download the software, Australia and New Zealand leads the world in downloads

Now, hang on, unless I’ve gone into a parallel Universe this is not correct. My understanding from Gartner and IDC figures is that Linux has about 20-25% of the global server market. The leader within the Linux server market is Redhat, so Novell might well have 30% of 20-25%, which is 6.5 - 8.5%. Are they counting the download figures as market share? If so, then that is very questionable and I think they know that. Why do companies play these games? Novell is caught between a hinterland of Netware and Linux. It needs to make it clear what its strategy is because it has actually got some world class products!