In a tersely worded href=3D"http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2004/11/pr04074.html"=20
target=3Dnew>announcement yesterday, Waltham, Mass.-based Novell said S=
tone=20
had "left the company to pursue other opportunities." A Novell spokesman re=
fused=20
to comment further today.=20

Stone, who was second in command at Novell to Chairman and CEO Jack Mess=
man,=20
was responsible for engineering, product management and alliances. His duti=
es=20
will be taken over by Messman for now, according to the company.=20

Stone couldn't be reached for comment today.=20

In a statement issued by Novell, Stone said, "It is with some regret tha=
t I=20
have decided to leave Novell and pursue other professional opportunities. I=
am=20
proud of my work and accomplishments at Novell, but now is the time in my c=
areer=20
to do something else, and I look forward to new challenges."=20

Dion Cornett, a financial analyst at Decatur Jones Equity Partners LLC i=
n=20
Chicago, in an e-mail message today called the departure "a negative for bo=
th=20
[Novell] and the industry."

=3D3>"We=20
believe that Mr. Stone was instrumental in pushing Novell toward a strategy=
of=20
capturing value from open-source software, as opposed to other members of=
management maybe more inclined toward giving away Linux to fuel demand for=
[Novell's] other offerings, such as identity management and directory serv=
ices,"=20
Cornett said. "We believe that the latter is a flawed strategy in that=20
[Novell's] other products will eventually face commoditization as well, and=
giving away the operating system not only sets a poor business precedent, =
but=20
may even accelerate the commoditization of products higher in the stack."=