[DistortedHumor]

Novell has always been Cash Rich, as software companies that get over the hump (and Novell is one of those) makes money hand over fist. Novell main issue has been figuring out where the best place to spend there cash to branch out in new markets, as novell knows that over time even the best products (like Netware) market can slowly die away, and you need new products to replace them. The Novell-MS deal was more of a selling point to make sure that companies buying Suse based servers will not face harrassment lawsuits from MS. Even if you win those types of lawsuits, it will burn cash, so Novell can say "Why buy redhat, when you can buy our great SUSE product and not have to worry about petty lawsuits."