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Novell Makes More Open Source Moves

Posted by timothy on from the all-star-cast dept.

cbnet2004 writes "In what can be considered a win for Linux, Novell has announced NetWare will cease to exist as a standalone product by the end of the year. However, the CEO says: 'We are still committed to it and it is not going away. Our new Open Enterprise Server offering will have two components to it: SuSE Linux Enterprise Server and NetWare. NetWare is here for a long time to come.'" Read on for more bits from Novell's BrainShare conference, including a planned company-wide move to Linux.

Roger Foss writes "Novell has announced it will release its cross platform iFolder file synchronization software as open source. This is pretty cool: far more transparent and easier to use than Unison or some of those friendly Rsync variants. iFolder does multi-master delta synchronization and is user friendly. The source software will be available at Novell's own Forge site and release under the GPL. This sure beats Novell's earlier open source efforts, when they released their proprietary IPX protocol stuff years ago. For those who want to try it, there's a live demo site that I doubt would withstand slashdotting."

Finally, mj01nir writes "According to Miguel de Icaza's web log, Chris Stone just announced that Novell will be moving the whole company to OpenOffice by the end of the year, and to Linux on the desktop a year after.

19 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. Guess it's not the right time to become a CNE by darthcamaro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    funny how things change, a few years ago I thought I had it made cause i had a CNE and now it's not worth crap....

    1. Re:Guess it's not the right time to become a CNE by PacoTaco · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The MCSE and other Microsoft certifications are signed by Bill Gates. I think it's pretty ironic, considering that he dropped out of college.

  2. GNOME? C#? by Vargasan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did anyone else notice that the iFolder project page only mentions GNOME?

    iFolder: integrated file sharing in the GNOME, Windows, and OS X desktops.

    Also, iFolder is written in C#. I guess that comes with the territory.

    Development Status: 2 - Pre-Alpha
    Environment: Win32 (MS Windows), Gnome
    Intended Audience: Developers, End Users/Desktop, System Administrators
    License: GNU General Public License (GPL)
    Operating System: MacOS, Windows, Linux
    Programming Language: C#
    Topic: File Sharing, Gnome, Filesystems

    --
    Putting the romance back into necromancer.
  3. Grammer tells us something.... by TheOtherKiwi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...but I'm not sure what...

    Novell has announced NetWare will cease to exist as a standalone product

    Um, "cease to exist" means a lot more than "cease to exist as a standalone product" in fact, they are opposite meanings. The highlighting emphasises the negative...I think this is a great announcement that sends a confused message. Hey they are adopting Linux more strongly, thats good right? They are not dropping NetWare, thats good for current NetWare users.

    The glass is half full...

    --

    -- Sig meltdown immine...
  4. Finally by Macfox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A brave move, but a welcomed one at that. It's going to be interesting next 12 months to see if Novell has made the right move.

    Netware is a solid platform and proven its stability, where Windows has failed. On the other hand Novells 1st generation software hasn't always been the best.

    Will the Netware zealots adopt the linux based services quick enough for Novell to cover its investment? Lets hope....Time will tell.

    --
    Area51 - We are watching...
    1. Re:Finally by jmulvey · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Netware is a solid platform and proven its stability, where Windows has failed.

      Not sure about that one, chief. File & Print services have become a commodity service. I mean, freaking Microsoft Exchange (a mail product) can do File services. Novell has stood still for way too long. I remember back in '97 getting my CNE for Novell 4.11. Today, NetWare 6 is practically the exact same system.

      Novell has for too long denied the value of the application server. Now they are being forced to make choices because it has finally come down to do-or-die for them. Sure, it's good to see that the company, when finally scared witless can make the right decision.

      But unfortunately, I think innovation is an area where Microsoft has simply kicked Novell's ass. And in this case Novell has nobody to blame but themselves for sitting on their hands.

      Sure Novell still has superior File & Print capability, that isn't enough anymore to float a boat the size of Novell.

  5. Novell's Direction by corngrower · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Netware has had its heyday. When customers found out they needed TCP/IP to internetwork, the days of a strictly local area network, as NetWare were numbered.

    With their purchases of Ximian and SuSE last year, it was pretty clear that Novell managment saw the need to take their company in a new direction. Novell chooses to embrace the new world. SCO tries to fight against it.

  6. Stupid question probably by modder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sorry, but I don't know much about netware. The article talks about a netware "kernel" version.

    How do they "integrate" this with Linux, exactly? (or am I missing something.)

  7. that's some good news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    with all the corporate support for OSS related projects, it is becoming a real contender on the server side against Microsoft. I wonder how much this eats into Microsoft's server sales they were counting on. Looks like all the "unix conversions" MS was counting on to continue their grow isn't going to happen. In fact looks they're gonna get hurt. The only real cash cow left for MS will be windows and office. Feel like the writing is on the way for the gradual and slow shift from world leader to just another player. MS won't die, but it will become less important as time goes on.

  8. iFolder is really cool by Degrees · · Score: 4, Interesting
    And the only thing missing was a Linux client, so this is good news.

    It will be nice when the NetWare server gets full Linux compatiblity. Really, it will be a Linux server that supports NetWare services - but the distinction won't matter.

    Personally, I would like to see the NetWare editor ported to Linux. I can't stand vi, and there really isn't a simple console (text-mode) editor geared for DOS/Windows users available on Linux. The NetWare EDIT program still fits the bill as arcane enough to not be yet-another-DOS-Edit clone, but does simple editing very easily. Cut-and-pastes between files, too. Its just a matter liking what you know.

    --
    "The most sensible request of government we make is not, "Do something!" But "Quit it!"
  9. That's it, Novell. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have gone from not caring about a single thing Novell has done to them being one of my favorite companies, ever.

    Buying Suse and Ximian, moving to Linux as a desktop, with OpenOffice.org? Then cancelling their most popular product for Linux? They seem very, very committed to F/OSS.

    This has got to be the first time I've ever said this about a company's reaction to Linux on slashdot, but they just, somehow, gained a customer, and a recommendation to friends.

    Congrats Novell, you've won my support, and the support of the entire Linux community.

  10. Nice by BCW2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like Novell. In fact the rights and permissions are just like Unix or Linux: You have nothing until someone gives it to you.

    Isn't M$ major flaw in that area? You have everything until someone takes it away.

    A secure system or network is based on a sound philosophy. Notice the difference!

    --
    Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
    1. Re:Nice by ejdmoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      NTFS is not that way at all. Initial permissions are based on basically two things:
      1. If you own the file, you get full control.
      2. The rest of the permissions are *inherited* from their parent, assuming the parent is set up to propogate it's permissions. If you don't want to give everyone permissions to files in a certain folder, you have that folder set not to allow propogation.

      The fact is that linux (well, more properly, the associated file systems) are very limited in their permissions. It is often desirable, in a proper setup, to have the right people get permissions automatically, without having to give it to them! NTFS has advanced features that do a good job of staying out of the way until you need them.

      *duck*

    2. Re:Nice by askegg · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes, except that (in typical MS style) the ACL's are stamped onto EVERY folder and file. Making changes to file system security consumes vast amounts of CPU and thrashes the HDD. Plus, you can't assign secuity based on the AD structure (everyone is sales has read access to this directory). Only groups and users will do. Microsoft file system security os only a little better than Linux. Both still are missing very granular rights - try revoking permissions to list, read, rename, delete, copy or execute individually on these platforms.

      --
      I don't make predictions, and I never will.
  11. Re:I was laughed at... by BJZQ8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No, they wouldn't have HAD to hire me...but the $100,000 a year the "consultants" were sucking from the school district was a bit of a large pill to swallow. I have saved them a huge amount of money converting to systems that don't need annual license updates, nor constant reboots, nor babbling Certified people to fix them.

  12. Re:Are they hiring? by RetiredMidn · · Score: 5, Interesting
    C'mon in, the water's fine!

    I work at Novell; I have installed OpenOffice.org, uninstalled MSOffice, and my laptop dual-boots Suse and XP (only until I can eliminate the last few dependencies caused by my development requirements).

    I am a Mac user at home, and I am so psyched that I am this close to a zero-Microsoft environment!

  13. Some people still run Novell networks by DaveAtFraud · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... The ones who care about security.

    I work for a comapny that makes a network monitoring product so my sample may be skewed. Regardless, a lot of people would probably be surprised how many networks still use Novell to handle their network logins, file sharing, etc. becuase its more secure than Windows. Some of this may be security through obscurity but the answer we consistently get when we ask people why they still run Netware is that its more secure.

    --
    They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
    Ben
  14. Re:I still need convincing... by voideng · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Netware threading model is signficantly better than the Linux model. Apache on Netware using the same hardware will out perform Linux. The test we ran about 6 weeks ago was RH AS 2.1 vs Netware 6.0 both were running Apache 2.0.

  15. Re:Are they hiring? by RetiredMidn · · Score: 4, Interesting
    As a Mac user, are you proud of Novell's current support for Mac? Do you expect your opinion to change in the future?

    Fair question, AC. As a Mac user/developer, Novell was, at best, barely relevant to me in the past. When I worked in a Mac-based office of a mostly-Wintel software house several years ago, the IT department's insistence on Novell servers was something of an annoyance, given their marginal Mac support.

    Although Mac support is not the highest priority at Novell right now (although there have been some recent announcements in that direction), I can tell you that Novell's intranet has become much more Mac-friendly lately, if only as a by-product of embracing open standards (and open source) instead of Windows as the default desktop; Apple's (e.g., Safari's) moves in this direction are also a factor. Looking forward, I'm hopeful, if only because of the common *nix ground between the Mac and Linux; it's a far more comfortable fit than WIndows. We haven't quite reached the stage where I could justify a Mac as my development machine, but it's not inconceivable...

    In case you're wondering, I'm currently doing Java development for Novell.