CNBC-POWER LUNCH
COREL (CORL) CEO MICHAEL COWPLAND AND INPRISE (INPR) CEO DALE FULLER ON A PARTNERSHIP
FEBRUARY 7, 2000
Summary: Cowpland comments on the surge of Linux. Fuller explains why he sold the company.
Bill: Corel announced its merging with Internet software firm Inprise today. The $2.4 billion deal is poised to create a Linux powerhouse that will help customers migrate to the Linux operating system more quickly. The combined organization will be called Corel and will have a combined customer base of over 55 million customers. Joining me now with the details is Michael Cowpland, chairman and CEO of Corel, and Dale Fuller, interim president and CEO of Inprise. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you.
Bill: Mr. Fuller, I'd like to start with you, the seller in this deal. Why sell now and why to Corel?
Mr. Fuller: It is a merger, and what the two companies bring together is the access to the Internet that is necessary, and the applications that have to be used in the world as we expand.
Bill: And Mr. Cowpland, we were talking with a competitor of yours last week, the CEO of VA Linux. You guys are going to different, you are all trying to develop a full-service service Linux operating company with various platforms. It is starting to see a consolidation in that business, with some big players emerging.
Mr. Cowpland: It is a team effort. Each is doing what it is best at. We're happy with the progress, developing an easy to use system, and the graphics. And now with this merger, we can do the tools as well for the other applications.
Bill: I have some e-mail questions from viewers. Here is one from robin, and she asks, "How soon can we see development tools for Linux from the Borland Corel family and are there plans for tools that will migrate existing Borland Windows code to Linux compatibility?" Maybe Mr. Fuller can address that.
Mr. Fuller: Absolutely. Today you can download from the web site, our JAVA tools, free for the Internet for Linux. They're available for you now. As we go forward, we're building a project called Kilex, in which you can take the Windows source code and bring it straight into Linux. So if you are a visual basics user, you can take the code, and put on dell 55 and import it directly to Linux.
Bill: Here is another one from Damon. With an emphasis on Linux, how will this takeover affect Inprise's other products such as the CORBA Visibroker, which is crucial to the computer industry as well?
Mr. Fuller: It stays very, very focused in our effort to deliver solutions to the marketplace. The enterprise level products are necessary. The delivery of those products are going to be on Linux. You still need CORBA, you still need Com and the other products in XML technology as we go forward.
Bill: Mike asks, we know Microsoft has a 10% stake in Inprise.
Mr. Fuller: That is true.
Bill: Will they stay or sell their stake, do you know?
Mr. Fuller: I believe they are going to stay.
Bill: Which ought to be very interesting. Mr. Cowpland, you will have Microsoft owning a piece of you.
Mr. Cowpland: Both of us have a good relationship with Microsoft. We sell clip art to them and we use visual basics. Borland has a relationship too.
Bill: Another question here: "What do you think of Apple possibly licensing their new OS10 operating system to compete with Windows and Linux? How much of increase do you see Linux based software sales in a year from now?"
Mr. Cowpland: Every day that goes by, there is another Linux announcement. So I think it will be a tough one to catch at this point.
Bill: Everyone is trying to get a piece of this operating system. How big can it become relative to the existing operating systems?
Mr. Cowpland: Well it looks like this will be the decade for Linux. Dos had 10 years, Windows had 10 years and the next 10 years will be Linux. We are offering full compatibility to the Windows world.
Bill: Last week with VA Linux, people are wondering since it is an open source, essentially free operating system, you have to devise a business model to make money and justify the valuations that Wall Street has placed on your companies.
Mr. Cowpland: In our case, we have the applications that aren't open source. There are too many other sub application tied into them. The OS needs to be open source, but the applications don't have to be.
Bill: I had one other here. "What about some of your existing like, you are going to be issuing Word Perfect, for example, in Linux pretty soon, right?
Mr. Cowpland: Yes, it's in Beta right now and this is virtually identical to the Windows version and fully compatible with Microsoft office files. So people can enjoy the benefits of Linux without having any pain whatsoever ever.
Mr. Fuller: The combination of the companies really provides the bridge that joins Windows to the Linux environment. And any corporation that is growing in the future, it is the delivery of Linux and that platform is the delivery of choice. Because it lowers cost more than anything else on the marketplace. If you are going to grow in the world today, you need to look at Linux. And if you look at Linux, you need to look at us because we provide the bridge between those two.
Bill: Gentlemen, good luck. Thank you for joining us. My thanks to Michael Cowpland, chairman and CEO of Corel. And Dale Fuller, CEO of Inprise joining us from New York. Taking a look at both Corel and Inprise's stocks today. Corel is down 1/8 at 19 7/8 and Inprise up 7/8 and 13 13/16.
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