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6. Many OSNews readers see how Ximian products and developers can add value to Novell products, but few have been vocal about value Novell can add to Ximian beyond being a financial backer. Do you see Ximian products being enriched by this acquisition?
Definitely. As we discussed, one of the biggest benefits Novell brings is an immediate increase in our channels of distribution. Their availability and name will offer us a lot. People don't understand the big burden of open source. They want their software to be open source, they want their software to be free. There have been discussions - Ximian is great, but how long will it be around? So they also want a company standing behind the products. This is what we can accomplish now. In Europe, we don't have the same ability to distribute our product, so we have to form agreements with other companies... Our distributions channels are limited. With Novell, we have an established name and business. We have a way to reach more customers.

7. Novell's on-again off-again interest in Linux is a departure from its core business. Will Ximian developers contribute to NetWare and its associated tools or do you expect Novell to expand further in new directions?
There's really no good answer for that. We were a private company, so not everybody knew about this ahead of time, obviously. Those who knew were able to play around with NetWare and really see what it's all about. We implemented support for Netware connectivity in Gnome within a week. We think we can do great things here. People at Ximian are excited about this.

8. Nearly all Ximian tools focus on the end user. Conversely, nearly all Novell tools focus on the network. Some see this as a match made in heaven, others see little value two such company can add to each other. Do you see any situation in which Ximian and Novell might pursue a "Windows free network" project or do you think it more likely that Novell will stay its course of integration into mixed environments?
Well, you have to realize that there are three parts to Red Carpet. Most people know only what is usually seen - a GUI client. But there's also an HTML-based interface and a command line. The second two are really meant for server use. Many people use the Red Carpet daemon to administer software across their network - add, remove, modify. So, Ximian isn't really just a client-side entity. Next we want to work on integration with directory services. We really don't have two different goals.

9. Can you share with us any Ximian programs in which Novell has expressed an interest?
Everything. They wanted to work with us on every level. We all got together, Groupwise, Red Carpet, NetWare, Evolution, Mono...they had interest in everything and seeing how everyone can benefit.

10. Novell has made other acquisitions in its efforts over the years to compete with Microsoft (WordPerfect, QuattroPro) that have ended up less than ideal for the acquired companies and their employees. How do you feel about that and have you discussed with Novell "worst case scenarios" that ensure Ximian's survival if Novell's focus shifts again at some time in the future?
Ah, but you're focusing only on the negatives. Cambridge Technology Partners, I believe it's called, Novell's consulting group, is successful. Don't forget that ZENworks and Novell's J2EE projects have also been successful. Let's be realistic - Sun and Microsoft have had failures too. No one is perfect. This is a different Novell. Actions performed under previous management had different goals; going head to head with Microsoft isn't really the motivation here - we want all of our products to be enriched by this.

Well, thanks Miguel, I know a lot of our readers have an interest in Ximian and are very excited for you!
Thank you.

1. "Miguel de Icaza, Part I"
2. "Miguel de Icaza, Part II"