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An Oracle-only Linux kernel coming?

While Suse Linux has released Oracle-friendly release of their Linux kernel, we now see that Oracle is considering their own Oracle-owned Linux environment:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7354696c-cd86-11da-afcd-0000779e2340.html

Oracle is studying whether to launch its own version of the Linux operating system and has looked at buying one of the two companies currently dominating the Linux world, according to Larry Ellison, the software company’s chief executive officer.

Such a move would redraw the software landscape and open a new front in Oracle’s long rivalry with US rival Microsoft.

The article notes that much of this is an attempt to counteract the influence of Microsoft Windows, (an operating system originally designed for personal computers):

Like IBM, Oracle has counted on Linux – an open source system whose code is open to anyone to view and adapt – to act as a counterweight to Microsoft’s Windows, which has expanded rapidly from desktop PCs into corporate IT systems.

As part of a recent study of the open source software market, Mr Ellison said that Oracle had considered buying Novell, which after Red Hat is the biggest distributor of Linux. “We look at everything, play this thing out,” he added.