Red Hat Speaks: Microsoft And Oracle Are Following The Linux Leader

Everyone wants a piece of Red Hat lately, in particular software giants Microsoft and Oracle. If competition is the sincerest form of flattery, then Red Hat should feel flattered several times over. What Red Hat doesn't feel is worried. InformationWeek editor-at-large Larry Greenemeier spoke Friday with Red Hat executive VP of engineering Paul Cormier about Red Hat's response to the newly invigorated competition in the Linux market.

InformationWeek: Why has Red Hat become a target for other software vendors, in particular Microsoft and Oracle, at this time?

Paul Cormier: "There's no question that Linux is a viable part of the enterprise. The two largest proprietary software companies just stood up, and by them saying that Linux is a threat to them, it's obvious that Microsoft and Oracle feel Linux is mainstream in the enterprise." Oracle had a number of options in terms of its Linux strategy. "They could do what Red Hat does in tying together all of the software needed to make Linux a useable operating system. But they said they were going to support Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it's the standard and the technical leader." Red Hat has become a target because "we've been running away with the enterprise marketplace," with more than 80% of enterprise Linux servers using Red Hat. Still, Oracle and Microsoft's moves "are less about revenue and more about control."

IW: What's behind Oracle's move to issue its own Linux distribution?

Cormier: "Oracle has publicly stated for some time that they wanted an operating system. Their main competitor is Microsoft, and an OS is a very important and strategic piece of real estate. If Oracle could control an operating system, that would be a wonderful thing for them."

IW: Could Oracle create a forked version of Linux that's incompatible with other Linux distributions that adhere strictly to the kernel maintained by Andrew Morton? If so, what's the impact?

Cormier: Oracle's move into the Linux distribution market presents a very real danger of creating a Linux operating system that's very different from other versions. Oracle is looking to take Red Hat's operating system and offer it under a different name and a modified kernel. Not an easy thing, even for a company with such bountiful resources. "You can't have it both ways." Oracle has a long way to go before they can present their customers with a usable version of Linux. Red Hat certifies 2,500 software applications and 750 hardware platforms on its operating system. "I can't see ISVs falling all over themselves to certify to yet another operating system, let alone one from a competitor like Oracle."

IW: How will Microsoft's $442 million deal with Novell for its Suse Linux distribution affect Red Hat?

Cormier: If Microsoft could get control of Linux, "they could keep it a step behind Windows. Oracle's announcement probably accelerated Microsoft's deal with Novell. Microsoft's strategy for coexisting with Linux is to take a piece of any revenue stream that Linux creates."

IW: What challenges do Microsoft and Oracle face as they move in on Red Hat's turf?

Cormier: The business of commercial open-source software is very different from that of proprietary software. "We have yet to see a company that's been very successful in combining open source and proprietary software." The model that Oracle and Microsoft are pursuing "could potentially be a challenge for us, but it's going to be a big, big challenge for them." Although Microsoft is promising better integration between Windows and Linux, Red Hat has already done a lot of work to integrate its operating system with Active Directory and other Microsoft applications. "The coexistence between Windows and open-source applications has to be on a public API level. Anything less is a lock in. Should Microsoft and Novell try to integrate at a behind-the-scenes level, I think that would be very detrimental to the customer."

IW: Speaking of partners and competitors, what happens to Red Hat's relationship with VMware after Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ships early next year with support for open-source Xen virtualization software?

Cormier: Virtualization is a very important part of Red Hat's plans moving forward. The company has 40 developers working on integrating virtualization into its software stack. Still, the company also supports VMware's virtualization software. "We're not going to support every hypervisor out there, only two: ours and VMware's." Red Hat will continue to support VMware even as Xen evolves. "I think they will be used for similar applications. But we won't say this one is better, or that one is better. That's the customer's choice."