Novell Releases OES Public Beta

IgorMrBean writes "Just before xmas, Novell has released their public beta of Open Enterprise Server. Novell had promise this a couple months ago, and the product seems to work well for beta... Kernel choice for OES : Linux 2.6 kernel - From SuSE Enterprise Server 9, and Netware 6.5 kernel. Also, many improvements for Netware 6.5SP3, including BASH support, PHP5 and more. Download details here (pdf)."

Comments

Is there a torrent?

[IO ERROR]

I know this is an old overused joke, but seriously, is there a torrent? I'm getting 2KB/sec off Novell's download servers. No, wait, now I'm getting 0KB/sec.

Re:Is there a torrent?

[nudeatom]

No problem for the likes of me

Re:Is there a torrent?

[mfinn999]

Novell got Slashdotted!

All I get is:

Lost connection to origin server.
504 Gateway Time-Out

I guess I'll have to wait a day or two.

I thought those were illegal

[Snipes420]

isn't bittorrent illegal? you could have fooled me

Rejected news

[invisik]

I submitted this on Friday. Ahh well. I'm somewhat surprised there isn't much interest in this product from the slashdot community. It's kind of a hybrid product, but maybe Novell isn't 3l1t3 enough to take notice. Oh well, they are taking care of business anyway...

-m

Re:Rejected news

[Homology]

Is it only the beta that is open, but the release will be closed i.e. you have to pay for it?

Re:Rejected news

[Anonymous Coward]

yes, read the faq on novell's site, OES will be licensed per user. For education (one of their still strong Netware) markets, if you have an academic License (per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) pricing or per node (computers on the network) pricing), OES is a free upgrade.

Re:Rejected news

[Hasai]

If you have an Upgrade Protection contract it's free then, as well. ....Well, the UP contract does cost just a *bit*....
];)

Re:Rejected news

[Hasai]

I suspect a lot of folks took the week off. :)

Re:Rejected news

[DavidWCooney]

Novell offers SUSE in 5 different forms only one of which requires licensing.

1: SUSE Linux Retail Solution

2: SUSE Linux Professional

3: Novell Linux Desktop

4: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

5: Open Enterprise Server (OES)

Items 1 through 4 will continue to be open and available to anyone.

OES, on the other hand, contains a combination of proprietary and open sourse products. The proprietary products (specifically eDirectory, NetWare, and (I think) ZENworks) must be purchased to use whether or not you want to pony up for annual maintenance.

Additionally, Novell has added some features to the OES release of SUSE that are dependent on these proprietary products (such as Novell Storage Services which taps into eDirectory to provide NetWare file rights management on the Linux platform).

If you think about it, this is in line with Novell's official stance on their approach to the Open Source community. They have made it clear that they want to support and encourage open source software but they also feel that there is an appropriate place for the continued presence of proprietary solutions running on open source platforms. They have repeatedly stated that they view themselves as a hybrid between the two communities; fully participating in both.

If you don't want to pay for the proprietary stuff, just download your choice of items 1-4. (For those who don't know, the "30 day evaluation" download of Novell Linux Desktop doesn't require any purchase after the 30 days. That's just a limitation on unpaid support for the product.

Good things

[Manan Shah]

It is nice to see another big free software release. Hopefully, as larger and larger companies put their weight behind linux, it will be come more and more mainstream. Hopefully, in about five to six years, we will see linux have a majority share in the server market. Maybe, using the collective might of all the linux companies, you may even be able to muscle Microsoft around a little bit. One can dream :)

And to think

[Degrees]

I used to complain that there wasn't a Novell logo for /. stories. Someone in /. management is chuckling. ;-)

The comment about a lack of a bittorrent is kind of insightful - I expect that there are people who would just want to install it to see what it does - but they don't really want to sign up with Novell, for fear of getting deluged w/ Marketing calls and material. (My experience is that would not happen, but any time you have to fork over info in exchange for a copy of the code, you are going to create that worry.)

The flip side of course, is if Novell did provide anonymous access to the code, some of those people would start working on exploits.

Novell would lose, as their reputation for being pretty clean (security wise) would get sullied. But Novell would win, as they could clean up a bunch of bugs prior to calling it an official product.

Re:And to think

[invisik]

Agreed, there should be a torrent and other non-Novell mirrors if they desire. I mean, anyone can download it from Novell, why not get it from somewhere else.

Ahh well, I downloaded it right away (ON FRIDAY) and got 100k/s out of them.. I'm happy. :)

Hang in there.

-m

SuSE Shows Strengths Yet Again

[schestowitz]

This step proves that SuSE provides a better-founded platform for deployment of large systems. I have preached in favour of SuSE for quite some time and I can finally do networking at greater ease.