To the strains of My Kind of Open Source[1], SUSE[2] wants you to know not just a Linux distributor. While SUSE will never leave its Linux roots, it offers a wide variety of open-source based programs and services for your servers, software-defined data center, the edge and cloud computing.
At the SUSECon[3] keynote in Nashville, Tenn., SUSE CEO Nils Brauckmann emphasised SUSE would soon be the largest independent open-source company[4]. He's saying that because, as IDC open source analyst Al Gillen noted, IBM will soon complete its acquisition of Red Hat[5].
Gillen tweeted, "To put some perspective around #SUSECON[6] statement of "soon to be" largest "independent" OSS company[7]... execs cite $400M in revenue, biz up Y-Y 15%. Red Hat just finished its FY at +15%, with rev of $3.4B. What IBM does w/Red Hat directly impacts SUSE's future opportunity."
All true, but SUSE is counting on that "independent" part to bring them more customers. Several SUSE executives told me customers are already approaching them because they're not tied to an IBM. Brauckmann sees SUSE future as being an "independent trusted advisor and partner" to open-source and Linux-based businesses around the world.
In an interview, Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE president of engineering, product, and innovation, said: "SUSE has very successfully delivered enterprise-grade Linux for more than 25 years, and it's only natural that we have expanded to cover the entire range of customer needs for both software-defined infrastructure and application delivery."