Novell predicts only two Linux distros will survive

SuSE and Red Hat, according to Jack Messman

Novell boss Jack Messman is predicting that the open source operating system market will be reduced to two dominant suppliers in the next three to five years: Novell and Red Hat.

Messman explained in an interview with vnunet.com that the current plethora of operating systems could not last in the corporate environment because of the development costs of designing hardware and software to take advantage of them.

“Because of the costs of software and hardware development you’ll find two major open source operating systems left in a few years: Red Hat and Novell,” he said.

“There will still be hobbyist systems, but for business two is perfect; any less and you’ve one company dominating to the detriment of the industry, any more and development costs go way up.”

Full story: vnunet.com