A Q&A with Jeff Hawn, chairman and CEO of Attachmate by Jos Poortvliet, openSUSE Community Manager at Novell

I had a chance to speak with Jeff Hawn, chairman and CEO of Attachmate Corporation about his views and intentions around SUSE and openSUSE. Jeff has commented that SUSE is an important brand and business that he wants to strengthen. What are his thoughts about the community and what does he see for SUSE and openSUSE? Here below are the questions I put forward and Jeff’s current thoughts. –Jos

Open Source

What is Attachmate’s history with open source projects?

Attachmate does not have a corporate track record in the open source business. However, we recognize the importance of open source technology, particularly Linux, and the growing value it brings to enterprises globally. We also recognize and value the openSUSE project, the contribution that the community makes to the SUSE business and most importantly, the many ways in which the community benefits SUSE customers.

At the end of the day, we are a technology company that is customer-driven, made up of engineers and technology enthusiasts. We have a lot of individuals that are long-time users of open source and participants in the open source movement. We recognize and understand what the community has developed, particularly over the last decade, and we are excited to be part of its future.

What is Attachmate’s view of open source software?

Attachmate recognizes that enterprises all over the world are utilizing more open source technology in their infrastructures, data centers and desktops every year. We believe this is a trend that will continue and that’s why we are excited about the Open Platform Solutions business and in particular, the SUSE Linux community.

It is easy for people to assume that because we are not currently in the open source business, we don’t value or understand it. This is far from the case. We are in the business of meeting customer needs and they see great value in utilizing open source technology solutions. Because of its open nature, open source is being adopted by enterprises in all industries around the world. Our intent is to keep it that way and continue to foster what has made it so successful for the Open Platforms Solutions business.

SUSE

Ok, then what is the plan for SUSE?