Novell has replaced its lead Linux executive for the third time in less than two years.
Former Lucent Technologies executive, Roger Levy, is the new general manager of the unit and will report to Novell CTO Jeff Jaffe.
He replaces David Patrick, who had been the vice president and general manager of the Novell’s Linux, Open Source Platforms and Services Group.
Patrick came to Novell in the acquisition of open source vendor Ximian in 2003, where he served as the CTO. Patrick became Novell’s lead Linux executive following the departure of Chris Stone in November 2004. In a statement, Novell said Patrick would “be pursuing interests outside of Novell.”
In its recently reported first quarter 2006 for the period ending January 31, 2006, Novell reported overall revenue of $274 million, down slightly from $290 million in the first quarter of 2005. Open Platform Solutions, however, which includes Novell’s Linux efforts reported revenue of $56 million for 1Q06 up from only $14 million in 1Q05.
Novell is currently on the verge of releasing a new enterprise Linux desktop as well as a new version of its community driven OpenSUSE distribution.