Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell Meets rPath in Raleigh, North Carolina (Hometown of Red Hat)

"It just tells you how desperate Microsoft is for a competitor that they’re holding up a software box produced by 100 guys in the hills of North Carolina. Who are they trying to kid?"

--Robert Young, CEO of Red Hat at the time



This one might make you slightly queasy if you consider not only geographical factors to be of relevance, but also employment record and baggage.

Mentioned last Saturday and throughout BrainShare coverage was Novell's appliance ambition. Novell announced this more officially last week and one of the latest articles covering this is from techtarget.com.

With the beta launch of its SUSE Appliance Program, Waltham, Mass.-based Novell Inc. has climbed aboard the growing movement toward application appliances. The goal of the initiative: to enable independent software vendors (ISVs) to build new applications faster by creating stackable components that can be combined with programs to build customized applications, said Nat Friedman, Novell's chief technology and strategy officer for open source.


Then came some more details about the product's identity and role. The name JeOS (pronounced "juice") was probably first introduced by Canonical some months ago and Novell adopted the same acronym, which is echoed quite uniformly across the Web, including in this article.

Novell Puts Out JEOS Beta, Starts Appliance Effort



[...]

In the case of Ubuntu, which has a main memory footprint of between 320 MB and 686 MB depending on the installed options, the high-end version of JEOS could come in at around 215 MB of main memory, not including the 32 MB footprint for the new ESX Server 3i hypervisor. A regular ESX Server 3 hypervisor weighed in at over 2 GB. So this is a radically improved memory footprint, therefore making it appropriate for hypervisor-style appliances.


But now comes the interesting bit. A couple of days ago the following press release surfaced.

rPath to OEM SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell for Appliances



rPath€®, whose unique technology simplifies application distribution and management through virtual appliances, today announced a technology partnership enabling application providers to use rPath’s rBuilder€® to create virtual appliances using the rPath Appliance Platformâ„¢ and SUSE€® Linux Enterprise Server from Novell€®. The agreement promises to reduce complexity and costs of application distribution and deployment, while maintaining the strategic value of investments in application certification. The Novell-rPath collaboration marks a significant industry milestone, enabling customers for the first time to utilize a leading open-source operating system with a leading virtual appliance lifecycle management platform.


Here is a quick and short post about it.

Until now, however, rPath’s virtual appliances have been released on the company’s homegrown version of Linux. With the new partnership, developers that have built applications in SUSE Linux can just transfer them over to rPath without any trouble.


Then came some newer and more in-depth articles, such as this one

Novell will provide rPath with SUSE Linux Enterprise source code and maintenance patches for incorporation into rPath’s “appliance platform.”

rPath and Novell issued a statement that included endorsements of their partnership from SAP and VMware.

[...]

Eric Troan, who co-founded rPath, with Marshall, was among the top developers at Red Hat before leaving the firm. Marshall also was an executive at Red Hat.


Mind that last sentence again. This isn't news to us, but the fact that the company is even based in Raleigh is interesting nonetheless. More interesting is the fact that it was rejected by others whom it approached, including Red Hat.

The Raleigh, NC company has approached Red Hat, Ubuntu and Sun about using rPath’s application packaging technology but those vendors decided to develop their own appliance offerings, he claims.


Mind the headline also: "rPath to OEM Novell’s SUSE Linux to reduce legal worries." See the FUD effect? Since when are Linux appliances associated with legal worries? Were such phrases injected in by rPath, Novell, or Microsoft?

To sum up some findings, what we have here is another company that associates itself with the Microsoft-taxed distribution, which is further complicated by the origins of rPath. It comes from the same company and people to whom the Novell/Microsoft deal is a pain. rPath essentially becomes a SUSE Linux (Ballnux) repackager.

There is something worth stressing again. To Microsoft, Novell is like Citrix. Microsoft doesn't need to buy it (it might even face antitrust scrutiny over this), but both Citrix and Novell do Microsoft's work, by proxy. Some even consider Novell a GPL proxy of Microsoft, which is unsurprising because Microsoft hates the GPL and avoids direct contact with it at all costs.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Sounds Like IBM is Preparing for Mass Layoffs/Redundancies in Red Hat, Albeit in "PIP" (Performance Improvement Plan) or "Relocation" Clothing
This isn't the "old" IBM; they're applying pressure by confusion and humiliation
Gemini Links 17/04/2025: Role of Language and Back to Mutt for E-mail
Links for the day
 
Links 19/04/2025: "Infantilization at Big Tech" and LLM Slop Abused in Defiance of Workplace Rules/Policies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/04/2025: Palm Addiction and Real Experts
Links for the day
Egypt is Controlled by Google, Not Microsoft
Moving from Microsoft to Google is not the answer
Microsofters Say They Cannot Find a Job (That They Want) Because of Techrights, But Techrights Merely Reported on Their Behaviour
Quit pointing the finger at people who are recipients of abuse or merely mention the abuse
Free Software and Standards - Not Marketing Blitz - Needed Amid Growing Severity of Dependency on Hostile Suppliers (or Another Country's Sovereignty)
ZenDiS can be described as the "Center for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration"
When It Comes to the Web, Google is Evil and It Destroys the Web's Integrity With LLM Slop
Even academia, which is meant to keep standards high, is being lured into LLM slop
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 18, 2025
Links 18/04/2025: "Fentanylware (TikTok) Exodus Continues", Chinese Weapons Allegedly in Russia Already
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/04/2025: Price of Games and State of Tinylog
Links for the day
"Sayonara" (さよなら), Microsoft
Windows had fallen below iOS in some countries
Links 18/04/2025: Layoffs at Microsoft Infosys and Qt Becoming Increasingly Proprietary (Plus Slop)
Links for the day
Google News is Dying
treating MElon's algorithmic/biased site as a source of verified news
Microsoft's Attack Dogs Have Failed. Now What?
It would be utterly foolish to assume that Microsoft has any intention of changing
All Your "Github Projects" Will be Gone One Day (Just Like Skype)
If you have code you wish to share and keep, then start learning how to do so on your own
To Understand Who's Truly Controlling You Follow the Trail of Censorship (or Self-Censorship)
Do not let media steal and steer the narrative; CoCs are not about "social justice", they're about corporate domination
Fedora Already Lost Its Soul Under IBM
Fedora used to be very strict compared to many other distros and it had attracted very bright volunteers
Microsoft is Still Attacking GNU/Linux and the Net
Microsoft bribed the government using money that did not even exist
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 17, 2025
Gemini Links 18/04/2025: Pinephone Pro and Linux is too Easy
Links for the day
Links 17/04/2025: Calling Whistleblowers at Microsoft, Slop Doing More Harm Everywhere
Links for the day
Links 17/04/2025: Russian Bot Farms Infect TikTok (Which US Government and SCOTUS Decided to Block January 19), US Hardware Stocks Crash Due to Tariffs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/04/2025: Sticking to Free Software, Smolnet, and Counting the Reals
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: In Conclusion and Enforcement Action Proceeds Against OSI at the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
There's too much to cover in one single part
When You Fail to Filter Your Clients You End Up SLAPPing Reporters on Behalf of Bad People From Microsoft in Another Continent
“American Psycho”
Links 17/04/2025: LayoffBot and Tesla Cheats Buyers
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 16, 2025