05.18.09

Novell News Summary – Part II: Moblin, ProBook, Certification, and Xandros/Presto

Posted in GNU/Linux, Novell, Xandros at 5:56 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: News about Microsoft-taxed distributions

Moblin

Following previous coverage and discussions about Moblin and Novell’s SUSE [1, 2] there’s a lot more such coverage. Here is what we found:

It’s about Novell and SUSE, so Kristin Shoemaker covered it as usual. Novell did too.

Shaun Nichols had an article about it which appeared in quite a few Web sites. CBR also (even via Yahoo!

ProBook

ProBook is something that we wrote about before. It is now being promoted by Novell’s marketing people and Jeff Jaffe wrote about it too.

The Next Step in the Massive Expansion of the Linux Desktop

We continue to expand our partnership with distribution partners. We have focused on the lower end of the market. For this environment, after the customer has spent modestly to get an outstanding workstation, they are highly incented to find an operating environment which matches the low-cost of their hardware.

Last month, HP announced their HP ProBook seriers, focused on the small and medium business user. Users in this market segment want Linux. So selected models will offer SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 11 preinstalled.

Certification

Here is a discussion with and about Novell, which came from InfoWorld.

With Linux having gained traction in business, certifications of Linux expertise are becoming more popular, similar to how Novell or Microsoft systems certifications became important for those platforms. But some in the Linux community say the emergence of certifications is by no means a golden ticket for admins, and perhaps just a waste of time and money.

Major Linux distributors, including Novell and Red Hat, have their own certification programs, notes Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. Employers come to the foundation seeking Linux talent and want to know if a candidate is qualified, he says: “They want to see a Good Housekeeping seal of approval, for lack of a better term, that’s neutral and third-party.” So the foundation offers the Linux Foundation Certified Developer certification and accompanying courses.

There is some further discussion of this out there.

I, myself, was caught up in the certification frenzy back in the early 90s with Novell’s now defunct NetWare product

[...]

Chances are that he never got a job as a Novell administrator. My utter disgust was mostly legitimate but what of his certification? The problem with his certification (and all vendor certifications) is that it was with a version of the software that was replaced less than two years later.

Other

In other news about SUSE, it was mentioned in relation to some hardware and other products, such as:

i. HP forges Netweaver XML appliance

This machine is equipped with Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 operating system, with the Netweaver software loaded on top of it. The server also includes a Tarari content processor board from LSI, and is then networked to the SAP ERP system, which is told to point to the appliance for Netweaver calls.

ii. Iron-pumping Microsoft SQL Server due this summer

HP, meanwhile, is working with business-applications giant SAP on a server appliance. Demonstrated at SAP’s SAPPHIRE conference, the XML Appliance is based on a quad-socket Xeon server ProLiant DL580 and runs Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10. The appliance is designed to format data in SAP ERP systems into XML ready for use on the web, in reports or other documents.

iii. Score an MSI Wind U90 Netbook for $195 shipped

The U90 also sports an 8.9-inch LCD, the ubiquitous (in Netbooks) Intel N270 processor, 512MB of RAM, and SUSE Linux. Surprisingly, this is a new system, not a refurb, so it carries a full, one-year warranty from MSI.

iv. IBM kicks out Nehalem-free racks, towers

Both new entry x64 servers will be available on June 19. Both machines are certified to run the usual SMB suspects in terms of operating systems, including Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 Web, Standard, and Enterprise Editions as well as Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux 4 and 5 and Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 and 10. Windows Server 2003 is not on the list of certified operating systems for the rack-based x3250, but it is the default preloaded operating system on the tower x3200 M2 according to IBM’s announcement letter, but online, RHEL and SUSE are the only options when you go to buy the box. Go figure.

v. Fujitsu Announces Planned Support for SAP® BusinessObjects™ Explorer on Fujitsu infrastructures

The solution approach behind SolutionContract also covers additional third party components, for example EMC storage and the Novell SuSE Linux operating system, which are included in the service management package.

As a little side story, it turns out that Novell Users Groups still exist and here is a surprise: “Oh! I’m talking at Melbourne Novell Users Group tonight – my ODF talk! Have to read up and add some notes on latest developments!” Isn’t it a shame that Novell helped OOXML and thus harmed ODF?

Xandros

Xandros still make appearances because of Presto, on which it bet the farm. Examples from the past week include:

i. Fast-and-Easy Linux From Hassle-Free PC (also here)

It’s a compact, fast-loading Linux OS that installs in Windows XP or Vista (no pesky boot CDs to burn) and runs alongside it. Tthe installer adds a dual-boot menu to your system, so you can pick which OS to run at startup.

ii. Presto: A Windows-friendly Linux

Maybe you’d like to get to work quickly, checking a few Internet sites and reading your mail without wasting time watching your machine load antivirus and spyware programs ad infinitum. Or maybe you’d just like to try Linux without leaving the friendly confines of Windows.

And here is one last review. █

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