Brainshare Reports: NLD 10, Novell's Linux Switch

An anonymous reader submits "Computer World has an article about Novell Linux Desktop 10, which was just announced at Brainshare, that it plans to compete directly with Windows. One of the biggest things about NLD 10 is that it will have the desktop search engine Beagle as a feature." Also from Brainshare, Joe Barr writes on NewsForge about the significance of Novell's ongoing (multi-year) transition to Linux for all of its 6,000 desktops. Consultants and software sellers of all stripes won't soon run out of TCO arguments for the products they want to push, but Novell claims to have saved $900,000 last year in Microsoft license fees alone.

Comments

Saving money

[Spodlink05]

They only took out two Microsoft licenses?

Exit strategy

[YodaToo]

Now if all of you just rush to buy shares of Novell, I can finally sell mine. Thanks in advance.

Alone?

[Otter]

Consultants and software sellers of all stripes won't soon run out of TCO arguments for the products they want to push, but Novell claims to have saved $900,000 last year in Microsoft license fees alone.

Y'see, the point of "total" is that you're not looking at individual costs "alone"...

Re:Beagle, Winfs, Spotlight??

[crazyvas]

Not everyone might be as organized as you are. Many people like to throw their files all in one folder, and spend time figuring out what they want. Meta-data searching will hopefully reduce the time to retrive. The major problem with Windows Find is that results are not indexed and cached. An analogy would be a user typing a word into google, and google *initiating* a web crawl to go through thousands and thousans of servers to find the word. That is simply inefficient if you search frequently. A utility as simple as "locate" or "slocate" has solved this problem under Unix for ages. After installing Google deskstop, I have used it several times, though I should add that I've used it much less than I thought I would.

If anyone can do it, Novell can. But can they?

[jht]

Novell has the resources and expertise to make Linux a truly viable desktop OS for Joe Corporate User. That all said, I'm not sure they will be able to out-market Microsoft enough to make a dent - even with their new management that's come in over the last couple of years, Novell remains the prototypical company that would open up a sushi bar, and advertise it with a sign saying:

"Cold Raw Dead Fish for Sale!"

(and I'm a Novell Partner- i like Novell!)

I've seen their new Open Enterprise Server (the SuSE/NetWare fusion) and it's tremendously impressive - I spent time in a class on it last week. The current NLD (based on SuSE 9.0) is a good solid desktop, which I run on one of my Dell boxes. Somebody out there is going to make Linux into a truly viable desktop player, and it'll probably be Novell in spite of their poor marketing skills.

I just hope that NLD doesn't turn out to be the "only" shot at a widespread penetration of the corporate desktop for Linux in general. Linux is doing just fine on the back end, but on the desktop right now the only real "alternative" is Apple - we need a good Linux-based Third Option to really start nibbling away at Windows.

Novell may get us something we need: drivers.

[jotaeleemeese]

Up to date, latest and greatest ones.

I don't care if they are bnaries, the important think would be that any Linux user could get hold of one.

With Novell, RH, Sun and IBM pushing for commercial Linux desktops we may get this more often thatn we currently do now.

Novell rocks

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

and I just heard from a guy working for Blackberry that they're working on making the Blackberry Enterprise Server work on Novell Groupwise Linux boxes. Oh happy day, when I can dump Exchange :)
Thanks for talking the talk and walking the walk, Novell. IBM, when are you going to switch the corporate desktops?