Novell takes Linux to China
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-28 09:19

Novell announced April 27 a partnership with a leading Chinese organization to help expand and promote Linux adoption in China.

The agreement with China Standard Software Co Ltd of Shanghai is intended to help optimize and promote Linux adoption in China. The two companies will partner on services, marketing and technology support issues that will give Chinese organizations access to "enterprise-class Linux services and local and global support."

Yesterday's announcement is not Novell's first move into China. Novell spokesman Bruce Lowry said that Novell has been actively building up its business in China over the last several years.

"Local partnerships are vital in the Chinese market, so this is a big step forward," Lowry said. "We believe success in China can have an important impact for Linux, and Novell's role in Linux, in the broader Asian market.

"So while I wouldn't call this a 'new' push in Asia for us, I'd certainly call it an important step forward," Lowry added.

He said Novell doesn't have specific goals with regard to taking share from any one Linux distribution.

"The potential market is very large, and we certainly hope to participate in growth there," Lowry said. "Novell has strong technical strengths on Linux, and, with CS2C, we will be bringing these to the China market."

Unlike the North America and European Linux markets, Neither Novell nor Red Hat claim the top spot in China. TurboLinux recently claimed that it held the top spot in terms of Linux server market share in China based on revenues.

In terms of shipments, Red Flag Linux is currently the leader, according to IDC. Red Flag is one of the core participants in the Asianux effort. The community-driven Debian GNU/Linux distribution also announced a Chinese partnership this year to help promote its offering.

Close