MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-09-08 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Novell 'puts entire ecosystem behind Linux'
|
Novell 'puts entire ecosystem behind Linux'
By John Leyden
Posted: 08/09/2003 at 15:15 GMT
Novell fleshed out its commitment to open platform computing - and played
down the significance of SCO's Linux lawsuit - at BrainShare in Barcelona
today.
Driving the adoption of Linux in the enterprise is central to its plans to
return to profit while reaffirming its commitment to maintain support for
its own NetWare operating system, the company says.
Jack Messman, chairman and chief executive of Novell, (repeatedly) told
delegates "we are not abandoning NetWare, we are adding Linux. It's all
about choice for the customer."
"We believe in heterogeneous systems because its too expensive to rip and
replace," he added.
At the conference, Novell executives pointed to the "traction of Linux in
Europe" - particularly in the government and financial services markets - as
reasons for optimism about a quick return to profitability.
Last month Novell offloaded one in 10 workers after announcing disappointing
Q3 revenues. Messman said that the job cuts would "not undermine Novell's
ability to execute" and predicted a return to profitability in Q4 2004. He
characterised the company's restructuring programme as a kind of blessing in
disguise because itenable Novell to change its skills-set to better suit
business objectives.
Messman believes the growth of the Linux market is unlikely to be affected
by SCO's controversial licensing claims, which he expects will ultimately
fail.
"The SCO lawsuit puts a little cloud on the horizon, but most companies are
going ahead with Linux in any case," Messman told The Register. "There's a
compelling economic argument for open source. There's cost benefits in
reduced licensing fees even if they [SCO] win, which we doubt.
"We don't believe it [SCO's lawsuit] will be successful," he added.
Messman praised the open source development model which he said would
ultimately lead to lower costs, whilst allowing firms like Novell to release
commercial products that add value "higher up the stack".
"We're putting our entire ecosystem behind Linux," said.
Open source flora and fauna
At Brainshare today, Novell put down some markers for its Linux development
roadmap.
Novell announced beta testing Novell Nterprise Linux Services, a bundle of
file, print, messaging, directory and management services for Linux from the
middle of next month. Nterprise Linux Services 1.0, due later this year,
will include management services from Ximian Red Carpet, following Novell's
recent acquisition of the open source developer.
The company also announced the open beta availability in early October of
Novell Nterprise Branch Office 2, which is designed to make it easier for
organisations to roll out network services to their branch offices securely
and inexpensively.
With application developers in mind, Novell pointed towards the forthcoming
beta (scheduled for early October) of its exteNd 5 Web services development
environment.
An updated version of the vendor's identity management technology - Novell
Nsure SecureLogin 3.5 - is pencilled in for an October 17 launch. Nsure
SecureLogin 3.5 allows single sign-on across multiple platforms and the Web,
helping to ease password management headaches.
"It's time to throw away the post-in notes," commented Chris Stone, Novell's
vice chairman, referring to the insecure practice of workers writing
hard-to-remember multiple passwords on notes affixed to their PCs. (r)
****************************************************************************
This message contains confidential information and is intended only
for the individual or entity named. If you are not the named addressee
you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received
this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.
E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free
as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive
late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not
accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this
message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
This message is provided for informational purposes and should not
be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or
related financial instruments.
GAM operates in many jurisdictions and is
regulated or licensed in those jurisdictions as required.
****************************************************************************
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
|
|
