Novell is throwing its full weight behind Linux with the
aim of driving the technology into the heart of the enterprise
datacentre.
The company revealed its plans at its BrainShare conference in
Salt Lake City to change the name and scope of its NetWare OS to
include Linux.
The release of NetWare 7 will be moved up by a full year and
will contain both the NetWare kernel and SuSE Linux Enterprise
Server in one package. The offering will be rechristened Open
Enterprise Server and will ship by the end of the year, said Jack
Messman, chairman and chief executive officer of Novell.
The Open Enterprise Server will have a common set of management
services, and a common install and delivery mechanism on NetWare
and Linux.
While the company presses forward with Linux, Messman made it
clear that Novell is not abandoning the development and support of
NetWare.
"Open Enterprise Server has two components: SuSE Linux and
NetWare. We intend to keep those brands for foreseeable future.
Netware is going to be here for a long time," Messman said.
In the past year, Novell assembled a Linux arsenal, acquiring
Ximian in August and completing its purchase of SuSE Linux in
January. The goal is to make Linux a viable option on enterprise
desktops and servers by providing the management, support, and
services needed to make the technology palatable to corporate chief
information officers, Messman said.
"With the combination of SuSE Linux, Ximian, and Novell, we are
the only vendor who can provide a complete solution on Linux from
the desktop to the server. This puts Novell in a unique position to
drive Linux from the periphery to the datacenter," Messman
said.
Novell also announced during the keynote that it will release
into the open source community both its SuSE Yast management tool
and its Novell iFolder storage and filing offering.
These moves, Messman said, illustrate Novell's deep commitment
to the open-source community. "Novell has made a commitment to give
more to open source than we take away and we are walking the talk,"
he said.
During the keynote, Messman announced that ZenWorks 6.5,
available for public beta in mid-April, will include Ximian Red
Carpet Enterprise and ZenWorks Patch Management in one suite.
Novell revealed plans to include Eclipse-based visual tools in
future releases of Nsure Identity Manager, offering a
point-and-click visual development environment, and combine Nsure
and Extend technologies to provide enhanced workflow.
Although Novell has pushed hard during the past year to become a
major force in open source, it is vital that the company does not
relinquish its proprietary software development efforts, according
to Chris Stone, Novell vice chairman, office of the CEO.
"The trick is to work on the peaceful coexistence of proprietary
and open source. You will see that at work in our development
efforts," Stone said. In 2004, much of that development will focus
on the Linux desktop, he added.
Novell plans to combine the SuSE Linux desktop and Ximian
desktop into one project, Stone said. The offering will include
centralised administration, password management and patch
management. The benefits for customers will be more choice, less
cost, and increased security.
Cathleen Moore writes for InfoWorld