One customer praised the fruits of the deal: "The Microsoft-Novell agreement is a great catalyst to helping us reduce the complexity of our Linux environment as we standardize our Linux infrastructure with Suse Linux Enterprise and continue to extend the use of Microsoft Active Directory," says Matthew O'Neill, group head of distributed systems for HSBC Global IT Operations, in a statement featured on a Microsoft-Novell Web site promoting their collaboration. "Our decision to simplify our mixed-source environment with Microsoft and Novell will allow us to reduce the cost and complexity. That's why we have selected Novell as our preferred Linux partner to support our Linux infrastructure going forward," O'Neill says.
But Boycott Novell's Schestowitz argues that the fruits of the agreement are not so benevolent and that customers have voted with their feet and avoided Novell. "Novell lost the community's trust, and their market share arguably fell relative to competitors that did not make a similar deal," he says.