Asked about Microsoft's and Oracle's Linux deals while appearing at a dinner, Schwartz focused on the importance of an OS.

"It reminds everybody again how central OSes are to the evolution of the Internet," Schwartz said. "Every 10 years, it seems like everybody wants OSes to go away so we all dismiss them."

Microsoft on Thursday announced a to offer sales support for Suse Linux and co-develop technologies for running Suse and Linux together. Oracle last week announced it would , potentially eroding Red Hat's core revenues.

Oracle, Schwartz said, invested in Red Hat but then Red Hat bought JBoss, thus building a business that will erode Oracle's. This reminds the world how important OSes are, Schwartz said. He also chastised IBM and HP, saying they did not realize the criticality of an OS and instead focused on another vendor's Linux offering.

"We're seeing lots of competitive advantage now because we got [the Solaris OS]," Schwartz said.