Novell and Ximian Archive

Novell Vice Chairman Chris Stone says the company will keep its flagship operating system in maintenance mode as it gears up for Linux.

Novell, the recent purchasers of Ximian, have announced that they may cease development of their incredible NetWare NOS. Update 01:41 EST: Maybe not. Seems they are not ceasing as much as moving to more of a "maintenance mode."

Novell today announced the August availability of Novell NetWare 6.5, advanced network services for business. NetWare 6.5 includes business continuity, open source, Web application services and "virtual office" capabilities to reduce network costs and complexity while giving users around-the-clock access to the tools they need to be productive.

In what Bruce Perens is describing as answering "the call of the open source community," Novell, makers of the popular NOS NetWare, has delivered a letter to SCO challenging their rights to UNIX System V. "Novell has just won the hearts and minds of developers and corporations alike," Perens continued. Read the article and the letter at Yahoo. Update: SCO's response.

With the announcement last week that Novell Inc. has tapped Linux as the migration path for NetWare, users said they finally have reason to believe that the folks in Novell's executive suite are as savvy as its engineers. NetWare 7 will put services on both OS kernels as means of providing migration option.

Novell is to investigate whether it can give customers the option of a Windows kernel for its Netware operating system. Earlier this week the company said it will offer customers the choice between a Netware and Linux kernel for Netware 7, which is due next autumn, but the company also plans to research whether it can offer a Windows kernel option.

Novell plans to launch at BrainShare 2003 this week the open beta of NetWare 6.5 and update attendees about its Liberty Identity Provider for eDirectory and exteNd 5 Web services platform. The company is expected to announce not only the open-beta availability of NetWare 6.5, code-named Nakoma, but its slated release date of June, sources said. Also, Novell adopts Linux as NetWare migration path.

Novell is releasing new networking software aimed at small businesses and will make it available for free, the company said on Thursday.

"Nearly every IT director is familiar with Novell's NetWare operating system and its strong network directory. But despite a string of reorganizations and refocused marketing messages, Novell's fortunes remain tightly hewed to its base of NetWare customers, which has shrunk substantially at the expense of Windows. Chris Stone is out to change that. Stone rejoined Novell nearly one year ago as vice chairman after a three-year hiatus. His mission: explain how Novell's trove of slick networking technology solves thorny business problems, like security and identity management." Read the interview at C|Net News by Martin LaMonica.

"Novell is breaking from tradition and quietly working to add Linux throughout its product and service lines. The move is part of a new multiplatform strategy that de-emphasizes its NetWare-centric vision." Read the report at eWeek. Update: Novell Inc. is currently evaluating its product suite to determine which of those it wants to open source and will be making a decision on this in the near future.

If networking software pioneer Novell fails to recapture at lease some of its former luster, it won't be for lack of effort. The company's latest plan to reinvent itself kicked off Monday, with the purchase of SilverStream Software, a maker of development tools. Novell Chief Executive Chris Stone sees the deal as helping the company expand into the market for Web services--an increasingly popular way to develop software. If Novell successfully integrates SilverStream into its product line, it could possibly revive interest in Novell's NetWare operating system and directory services software as a Web services development package.

"An executive of network computing company Novell Inc. on Wednesday accused Microsoft Corp. of using anti-competitive tactics to dominate the market for Internet server software. Novell Chief Technology Officer Carl Ledbetter, in testimony in the ongoing Microsoft antitrust case, said that Microsoft withheld critical information that competitors needed to make their server software work well with Microsoft's Windows, which virtually holds a monopoly position in personal computer operating systems." Read the news story at Yahoo!News.

Ximian, Inc., an open source software company, not only announced the 1.0 release of their Evolution e-mail client, but also the availability of Ximian Connector for Microsoft Exchange. Ximian Connector for Microsoft Exchange will finally allow users to connect to their business' Exchange servers from their Linux workstations. Update by ELQ: An interesting editorial regarding Ximian's flirt with Exchange can be found at the LinuxPlanet.

A press release announces that Novell is offering a new Native File Access Pack that allows Windows, Mac OS, and UNIX/Linux clients to access Netware servers without any special Novell client software. This is a big step in the right direction for Novell. Using the standard file-sharing protocols for each of the three major workstation platforms makes Netware a stronger competitor to other file servers. And administrators who've disliked adding more software to every workstation just so they can connect to Netware servers now have one less reason to switch their server OS. An Infoworld review of a beta release of Netware 6 gives some more detail.