04.11.09
Novell News Summary – Part II: SLED, Sub-notebooks, iFolder, and Xandros
SLED
Jupitermedia has published this review of SLED 11 (also here).
This release of the SLED product brings features from the latest distributions to a fully-supported enterprise offering. If you were a previous SLED user it had to be hard to watch the innovation happening with openSUSE and not have the same features available for use. The increased emphasis on security should help get the product more notice from the decision makers that count.
It’s hard to argue with facts like straight up cost comparisons. SLED 11 includes everything a typical business user needs to get their job done for one annual subscription cost of $120. That number may vary depending on number of seats and the level of support. SLED 11 is definitely worth the look as a solid enterprise-ready desktop platform.
Here is Rodney Gedda’s review again, but it’s in IDG’s Australian domain this time around. Here is an early glimpse at SUSE Studio.
SUSE studio is a web front-end to customize and build your own personal distribution in as many ways you could possibly think off. There are other similar services and applications that helps you make custom distribution but none of them are as extensive in customization options as SUSEstudio or as easy.
There is another new rave about SUSE Studio:
I would love to see a tool like this for debian. I’m pretty sure it won’t be much harder than suse’s tool to build. The clock counts down before the open-source hippies ruin a great tool’s reputation claiming that the server-side code is proprietary, despite knowing that it runs on server farms and took a really long time to get running.
Sub-notebooks
Channel Insider checked to see whether SLED 11 is suitable or not for enterprise sub-notebooks.
SLED 11 has a great deal in common with the recent OpenSUSE 11.1 release, but differs from other Linux distributions in yet another area; there is a relatively limited selection of software packages available for SLED 11. Novell is looking to address that limited software ecosystem by incorporating “single-click install,” which, as the name implies, makes installing application programs a breeze. As in previous versions, SLED 11 uses Novell’s update service to provide automated security and program updates. That service requires an activation code from Novell.
Novell turns out to be committed to distributing Moblin as well.
Fifteen operating system vendors have committed to distribute Moblin-based products, including Asianux, Canonical, DeviceVM, gOS, MontaVista, Novell, and Wind River.
Moblin might be a good idea in this case because SLED 10 on sub-notebooks appears to be rejected (MSI). Novell has a plan B, but Taiwan is where it's at.
DigiTimes reported on Monday that Novell has set up a research and development team in Taiwan to work on SUSE Linux variants for use in netbooks. Partners on the project, the report noted, are Acer, Asustek Computers, and Micro-Star International (MSI).
Requests to Novell and HP for comment were not returned by press time.
According to Tectonic, down south (in South Africa) Dell would preinstall SUSE on thin clients.
Southern African IT distributor Workgroup is anticipating growth in the South African Linux thin client market and says that Dell’s OptiPlex FX160 devices will be available locally pre-installed with Suse Linux Enterprise Thin Client.
iFolder
This is pretty major news because there has been no update in ages. Well, now there is one and here is the press release.
The iFolder project, a Novell-sponsored open source initiative that simplifies synchronizing files across multiple systems and enables users to securely access and share files with other users, today announced its first open source release since 2007. Available immediately, users and developers can download iFolder 3.7.2 client and server packages and source code. The latest release adds several features, including support for new platforms, additional security options, improved handling of file conflicts, and capabilities for merging files. In addition to an updated project Website, Novell has put in place a community development plan to ensure that iFolder becomes and remains a vital open source project.
The Indian press rewrote the press release and called iFolder a “major OS” (this is journalism?). Compare to the above:
The iFolder project, a Novell-sponsored open source initiative that simplifies synchronizing files across multiple systems and enables users to securely access and share files with other users, today announced its first open source release since 2007.
Zonker wrote about it too and so did his colleague at OStatic, Kristin Shoemaker.
Today we announced (officially) that iFolder code has been pushed out and we have a new iFolder Web site.
So, you can grab the source code from SourceForge immediately. We’re working on packages for openSUSE 11.0 and 11.1, and there’s work being done to put iFolder into the openSUSE Build Service as well.
Justin Ryan made it a side story at Linux Journal.
Long release cycles are by no means unusual in the Open Source world. While some projects — Ubuntu, for example, and GNOME — have release cycles one can set their watch by, other projects take a less tightly scheduled approach — Debian’s “we’ll release when it’s ready to release” philosophy comes to mind. Such would seem to be the case with the iFolder project, which released Version 3.7.2 on Friday — their first since 2007.
Xandros
Not so much to see here this week, but Xandros was crowing about its business using a press release.
Xandros, the leading provider of intuitive Linux solutions and mixed-environment management tools, is scheduled to present at the Cambria Capital Investor Meeting in Salt Lake City on April 9, 2009 at 3:45 pm MT. Andreas Typaldos, Xandros CEO, will update investors on current business developments and goals for 2009.
Some people are still deploying software from Xandros.
Sentegrity (www.sentegrity.com.br), today announced that, CCT Global Communications of the British Virgin Islands, has implemented Xandros’ Scalix as their standard email and collaboration platform.
The founder of Xandros made some press also.
Carlstadt Mayor Will Roseman is the founder of the computer company Xandros, Inc., which has offices around the world. Typically, he will go to borough hall before or after he goes to work in New York. His job has enough flexibility to allow him to leave at 2 p.m. or come in at 11 a.m. Roseman pointed out another important function of mayors: marriages. He marries at least 100 couples per year.
The next post will focus on Novell’s business that excepts SUSE. █
