Bonum Certa Men Certa

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



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.

Recent Techrights' Posts

If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
 
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day