Raymond Noorda, the influential leader of Novell between 1983 and 1995, the so-called ‘grandfather of networking’ – or the “grumpy grandfather” according to rival, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates – passed away in October 2006, at the age of 82

Under Noorda’s leadership, Novell grew from a tiny company to one that dominated the network operating system market in the 1980s, with its Netware product, which linked desktop PCs to printers and file servers.

“He helped drive the extension of the PC by building a successful file sharing system for the newly introduced PC that is now the de facto standard in Local Area Networks,” said Dell founder, Michael Dell.

Least among his achievements might have been the invention of the word “co-opetition”, a horrible word, but it neatly described his approach to working with partners, that helped propel Novell to its grand heights around the world.

Noorda died of an Alzheimer’s related illness at his home in Utah.