[plug] Novell and Linux

[Jon Miller]

For those of us that still are Novell and Linux supporters:

The value of roadmaps
By James Gaskin

Turning an enterprise has much in common with turning an ocean liner:
you need lots of warning and lots of energy. A great example just
happened at Novell's BrainShare conference.

NetWare has a grand history and many fans, but has been losing market
share to Microsoft for years and Linux recently. The Linux push into the
enterprise server room comes primarily at the expense of non-Intel Unix
systems, but has bitten into the market of NetWare quite a bit as well.

Hence Novell's keynote speech announcement at their BrainShare
conference recently: NetWare customers will have the choice of a NetWare
kernel or Linux kernel for NetWare 7.0. NetWare 6.5 will ship this
summer, meaning NetWare 7.0 is about two years away, but the news was
greeted with enthusiasm.

Many companies want a long term plan toward open systems, or at least a
better embrace of open source products. Part of this is backlash against
Microsoft (especially recent licensing cost increases), part is for
hardware platform choice, and part for avoiding vendor lock-in through
proprietary software. NetWare falls into the last group; many NetWare
services, such as eDirectory and the wildly popular iFolder that shipped
with NetWare 6.0, run on multiple server platforms, including some Linux
flavors, but the core of NetWare remains proprietary. Unlike some
proprietary server operating systems running on Intel processors,
NetWare offers great performance and high security, but it remains
proprietary.

The loudly stated move toward support of a Linux kernel supporting
NetWare services answers questions for many enterprises. Those companies
moving toward Linux are happy, those companies wanting to avoid
proprietary lock-in are happy, and those who still want NetWare are
happy.

Every Novell customer I spoke with about the move toward Linux was
either thrilled or neutral, but no one was actively upset. That's a good
reaction. 

Novell executives aren't ready to commit to supporting particular Linux
kernels, either Red Had or SuSe or United Linux or a Novell-branded
distribution, and customers didn't have a problem with that lack of
detail. The direction toward Linux gives companies a way to keep NetWare
in place even if the corporate direction is Linux. Novell replicated the
old politician joke about discerning the direction of the parade then
jumping in front to become the leader. And they proved a two year
roadmap gets better results than no roadmap.

James

Jon L. Miller, MCNE, CNS
Director/Sr Systems Consultant
MMT Networks Pty Ltd
http://www.mmtnetworks.com.au

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure
 is trying to please everybody." -Bill Cosby