Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part III: SCO, GroupWise, Videos, and Utah

Winter morning - Monument Valley



Summary: The remainder of Novell's news from the past week

THOSE who expect interesting news from Novell should probably skip this post. There is almost no output from Novell and mentions in the press are therefore of little value.



SCO



SCO's liquidation may be imminent, but SCO is fighting against this. For those who have not been following the saga, Novell and IBM are pushing for liquidation. Groklaw covered all this in the following new articles:

i. SCO Files Response to Motions to Dismiss/Convert & Files Objections to Claims - Updated: Response as text

SCO has filed its Response to Motions to Dismiss or Convert, the motions filed by the U.S. Trustee, Novell, and IBM. It has also filed Objections to the claims of Novell, IBM, SUSE, and Red Hat.


ii. Groklaw's Annotated Version of SCO's Response to Motions to Convert/Dismiss

I thought it would be fun to carefully respond to each inaccurate or misleading statement we see in SCO's Response [PDF] to the motions to convert or dismiss The US Trustee's Office, Novell and SUSE, and IBM all filed such motions in the SCO Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and there will be a hearing on the motions on June 15th. I hope some of you plan to attend.


iii. Herb Jackson Files Objection to Motions to Convert/Dismiss

iv. SCO Files Motion to Seal Appendix to its Response and Motion to Shorten Notice

v. IBM Replies to SCO's Opposition to Motion to Convert

vi. Novell Replies to SCO's Opposition to Novell's Motion to Convert

Finance



Here is Novell's 10-Q for this quarter.

A former Novell employee put some positive spin on Novell's financial results a couple of times over the past week, namely:

i. As chip sales plummet, which software vendors will survive?

Recent earnings reports from Novell and from Red Hat suggest that Linux and open-source vendors may clean up even as spending gets chopped.


ii.Red Hat: Go big or play it safe?

Yes, SAP, Oracle, IBM, HP, and others benefit from having Red Hat serve as a strong standard-bearer for Linux. But only if Red Hat never gets too powerful. That's why IBM has invested in Novell to shore it up against Red Hat, and it's why few are probably crying that Novell's partnership with Microsoft appears to be paying handsome dividends.


Here are some remarks on Novell's position in Moblin. It's no longer unique in that regard and SUSE sales were not impressive.

I did see a number of machines running other flavors of Linux in booths from the various Linux makers, notably Linpus and Novell. Intel was the big place to see non-Windows machines. The company was promoting its Moblin version of Linux on a number of netbooks and nettops, and I was particularly surprised by the number of all-in-one designs.

Moblin has its own user interface, but the company also showed off other versions of Linux running on top of it, including Ubuntu, Novell Suse, and Linpus.


Mail



Novell's PR blog has been quite active over the past week and it wrote about GroupWise a couple of times.

Check out this recently published eContent case study to see how Whitelaw Twining is using GroupWise to simplify filing, streamline its legal practice, and get control of the data being stored on it servers.


Here is a little new profile Novell is referring to.

Vendor of Choice: Novell GroupWise Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Novell first started touting the need for secure corporate networks in the 1980s. It now focuses on providing collaboration tools, security, identity management, resource management, data center applications, and open source operating systems. Novell has more than 50,000 customers in 43 countries. GroupWise 8 provides a collaborative workspace that combines email, calendars, tasks, and content management. It connects to Web 2.0 innovations in a customizable productivity dashboard for each end user.


When it comes to phones, GroupWise was mentioned in relation to Apple's iPhone.

Neither IBM’s Lotus division nor Novell have iPhone clients, so their e-mail access is handled through the Web. That means there’s no local data stored on the iPhone to be stolen, but it also means that there is no mechamism for remote management, such as to kill a device that has access privileges to network-based e-mail, contacts, and calendar information. IBM has announced it will provide Notes synchronization to the iPhone via Microsoft's ActiveSync technology in a forthcomig version of Lotus Notes Traveler, but the security and management implications remain unclear.


GroupWise was also mentioned in relation to BlackBerry.

The smartphones, which support cellular and Wi-Fi networks, work in conjunction with the BlackBerry Entreprise Server software to enable users to access their corporate networks and e-mail (IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange or Novell Group Wise) and access the internet.


According to this press release, Palm Pre will support GroupWise.

ompanionLink€® Software, a leader in synchronization solutions, announced record breaking sales of their CompanionLink for Google product, which supports PC desktop synchronization to Palm€® Pre(TM) through Google(TM). Thousands of Palm Pre users installed the software to synchronize contacts, calendar, and tasks between Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop, Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, ACT!, GoldMine, Time & Chaos, and other PC desktop data sources.


Support for GroupWise in Pre is also mentioned here.

"We look forward to Palm announcing a Synergy SDK to allow CompanionLink to synchronize Outlook, Lotus Notes, ACT! by Sage, Outlook Business Contact Manager, and Novell GroupWise data directly to the Palm Pre. Until that time, our currently available products will support the early adopters of the Palm Pre. As we improve our products, Palm Pre users will be able to upgrade without charge by downloading from our website," says Wayland Bruns, CEO of CompanionLink Software.


Webmail poses a threat to GroupWise, as the following article explains:

Google has been asiduously courting partners like LTech and has given his company much more support than he received from Microsoft, Oracle or IBM, Laczynski said. “Google does a lot with helping us develop a viable business,” he added. That’s exactly how Microsoft built its application server business in the 1990s, by doing a better job of supporting its channels than competitors like Novell.


More on Google versus Novell:

Given that fact, many of Google's competitors long ago saw fit to support Outlook as a client in their battle-against-Exchange strategies, including IBM and Novell, and lesser known alternatives such as Alt-N Technologies, CommuniGate, Gordano, Kerio, Mailsite Fusion, Open-Xchange, Scalix and Zimbra.


People



Not much to see here except the mentioning of Eric Schmidt's roots in Novell.

We sympathize: The criticism of Bartz's background seems more like thinly-veiled swiping at her age and gender than at anything substantive. Eric Schmidt escaped such second-guessing when he moved from PC software company Novell to running Google.


Security



An article about security happened to mention Novell in a much broader list of companies.

Microsoft has built a selector program, CardSpace, into its Vista operating system. Stand-alone selectors are available from two other companies, Novell and Azigo. Google, Oracle and PayPal have joined the industry foundation and there are a few working sample cards available, but no major retailer or financial institution has implemented the system yet.


Partners



Novatium's relationship with Novell [1, 2, 3, 4] was mentioned very briefly in a new press release from Novatium, so coverage inspired by it echoed the same bits.

With enhanced features such as 3G connectivity, printer support, Navigator 2.0 reduces boot up time to fastest of 5 seconds, and includes improved service-category panes on the desktop, display-effect of network on applications, configurable online radio, Task Manager utility, Zoho applications and Clipboard support for Openoffice applications. The company has partnered with technology companies such as HP and Novell.


This can also be found in other sources like CIOL and The Indian Express.

Novell was mentioned in the following press releases in the footer (for affiliation):



Videos



"How to make your own profile on Novell" is the title of this video which landed on YouTube a few days ago.



NovellServices, a YouTube account which promotes the company's products, has added the following:



Utah



Greg Butterfield was mentioned here before as he moved between companies in the region [1, 2]. He has roots in Novell and he is now being recognised.

Greg Butterfield, Managing Partner of SageCreek Partners, Named to Utah Technology Council 2009 Hall of Fame



[...]

Prior to joining Altiris, he served as executive vice president of worldwide sales at Vinca Corporation where he increased revenue from $1.7 million to $24 million in less than three years and positioned the company to be sold to Legato Systems for $92 million in 1999. He also held executive level positions at Legato, Novell and WordPerfect Corporation. Butterfield received a bachelor's of science in business administration, finance from Brigham Young University.


This is also covered here (almost identical):

Prior to joining Altiris, he served as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Vinca Corporation, where he increased revenue from $1.7 million to $24 million in less than three years and positioned the company to be sold to Legato Systems for $92 million in 1999. He also held executive level positions at Legato, Novell and WordPerfect Corporation.


Also in the local news:

Butterfield is managing partner of SageCreek Partners, a consulting company that provides mentoring, strategy and coaching to technology companies. He also held executive-level positions at numerous companies, including Altiris, Legato, Novell and WordPerfect Corp. He was winner of the 2002 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and served as the chairman of the board of the Utah Information Technology Association (now Utah Technology Council) from 2003 to 2005.


A couple of weeks ago we wrote about Novell offshoring Utah-based staff. The local press has just written about it.

Novell Inc.'s Provo office will become a showcase for a new deal between the business software developer and giant Affiliated Computer Services that both companies see as a key strategic alliance.

As part of the deal, ACS will take over Novell's computer operations based in its Provo office. That means about 100 Novell employees in Provo will go to work for ACS.


More information can be found here.

In May, Affiliated Computer Services (News - Alert), Inc. and Novell, Inc. announced a strategic partnership to expand their core technical capabilities and suite of services.

As part of the partnership, Novell will outsource part of its internal IT operations to ACS, which will also provide SAP (News - Alert) consulting and applications development and maintenance system integration services as part of a $135 million, five-year contract.

ACS will also partner with Novell (News - Alert) to enhance its global data center operations and will purchase at least $30 million in Novell products during the first three years of the partnership.


Novell insists that no job losses are involved in this peculiar move.

Leftovers



Novell was mentioned very briefly in the following articles too:

i. Practical Analysis: It's Not Disruptive If It's Not Cheaper

Software vendors had better be ready to sharpen their pencils, because this is the sort of game that Microsoft plays very well. There's no doubt that it's still playing catch-up against VMware, and others will offer management software with more features, but you can bet that Microsoft will set the bar for midmarket data center automation pricing and functionality. Its close partnership with Citrix has resulted in a good management product in System Center, and a great add-on with Citrix Essentials. Just as Microsoft marginalized Novell with its file sharing, Active Directory, and adequate management tools for each, it can do the same to automation vendors.


ii. WWDC Preview: iPhone 3.0 hopes from an IT pro

LDAP is support is important for anyone in an LDAP environment, (Apple’s Open Directory, Microsoft’s Active Directory, OpenLDAP, Novell’s eDirectory, etc.), as it allows iPhone users to access contact info that is stored in the company directory, rather than relying on their own contacts. This would allow iPhone users to not have to use third party software, (like LDAPeople) or have to copy a company’s global address list to their iPhone to have things like email addresses and phone numbers for coworkers on the device.


iii. Preview: IPhone 3.0 Hopes From an IT Pro

Nothing of significance to see here overall.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Under Investigation for Breaches of Law in the UK
Just like the Microsofters
GAFAM is Connected to Misogyny, Almost All Founders Divorced
They're not good people, even if they pay the media to pretend otherwise
SLAPP Censorship - Part 83 Out of 200: Religion is Still Alive, But for Many This Religion is Monetary (Greed, Monopolies, Corporate Power)
If all you keep boasting about is being able to afford a hotel room and some domestic flight, then maybe you have no real accomplishments and are more like a "Facebook serf" with a credit card
 
Techrights and Tux Machines Subjected to Cyberattacks for Several Weeks
In the past I spoke to the cybercrime unit of British Police. Maybe it's time to do so again.
The Register MS Has Become a 'Content' Farm Promoting Slop for Hostile Corporations
Now they call it "PARTNER CONTENT" - not "SPONSORED" - as if semantics make the difference
Latest Example of Widespread Fake Assertions (False News) About "Hey Hi"
The false narrative of "Hey Hi layoffs"
Links 21/05/2026: Facebook Rewarded With Tax Breaks to Destroy the Environment and Cause Global Warming, Shortages, Pollution; SpaceX (SPCX) Continues Losing Billions of Dollars
Links for the day
Codecs and Software Patents - Part VIII - GNU Audio/Video Team Has Chosen the AV1 Video Codec and It Explains Why (They've Researched Their Options)
AV1 video codec will be used to encode and share GNU videos online
Dr. Stallman Helps Establish Free Software Advocacy Outside the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as Well
The ideals or principles of Free Software needn't be centralised or monopolised; they can be federated
22 Years of Tux Machines and a Community Stronger Than Ever Before
We've already received some feedback from the community and improved it accordingly
More Microsoft Layoffs on the Way (June and July 2026)
with or without PIPs
LWN Sponsored by the Linux Foundation (Monopolies)
We must be able to casually point this out
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXIX - European Patent Office (EPO) Tells Staff "Speaking up" is Good, But Not When the "Brother-in-law" of EPO's President Does Cocaine
Do we still have a functioning democracy and potent press?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Gemini Links 21/05/2026: Immigration, Slop, and Slop 'Code' Suggestions Infesting Code Repositories
Links for the dayGemini Links 21/05/2026: Immigration, Slop, and Slop 'Code' Suggestions Infesting Code Repositories
Oracle Seems to Have Popularised Overnight Layoffs, Now GAFAM Does the Same
layoff emails at 4 a.m. local time
A Lot of Fake News About Microsoft's LinkedIn Today, Some Comes From Slopfarms, Some Relies on Those Slopfarms
As usual, slopfarms make the Web a huge pile of garbage
IBM's Kyndryl is Circling Down the Drain, Say Kyndryl Insiders
"IBM Dinosaurs who were recycled and catapulted into the orange trash heap by IBM"
A Lot of Coverage Adding Hype Factor to Slop Bug Reports... is Made by LLM Slop
Local Privilege Escalation [...] the slop motivates some actual people to keep writing about it
Links 20/05/2026: Mass Layoffs at NPR (Bought by the Ballmers and Bill Epsteingate), Starbucks Korea CEO Fired Over ‘Tank Day’ Ad
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/05/2026: Advantage of CD Collections, Geminaut's View of Nostr, and SSL / TLS Certificates
Links for the day
IBM is Becoming a Pile of Expired Patents and Abandoned Buildings, Assets of Little Actual Value
Having laid off a ton of people, borrowed lots of money to fake growth (by acquisition), and sent some jobs to low-paid regions where innovation isn't done
Links 20/05/2026: Looting of Americans for "White Grievance Reparations Fund"; "Mark Zuckerberg Used Shell Companies to Bully Native Hawaiians"
Links for the day
Web Browsers Are for Rendering Web Page, They Shouldn't Become PDF Editors
Linus Torvalds is quickly learning and speaking about this
SLAPP Censorship - Part 82 Out of 200: British Government Intervenes in the SLAPPs by Brett Wilson LLP
At this stage our matters are dealt with by a layer below that of the Prime Minister (adjacent to it)
LinkedIn Communications Reveal That LinkedIn - Like GitHub - Will Vanish Inside the Belly of Microsoft
This is definitely going to happen.
In Wall Street, Financial Difficulties Drive Shares Up
Wall Street doesn't work that way
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXVIII - European Patent Office (EPO) Guidebook Says Report Crimes Committed on EPO Premises. Some Did, But President Campinos Covers up for the Culprits.
The staff has long been on strike and the union (SUEPO) organised an enhanced day of action just two days ago
Gemini Links 20/05/2026: Fall of an Empire, "High Tech is a Social Exercise", and Big Cameras
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 19, 2026
LinkedIn Layoffs at Microsoft: Probably Well More Than 5% of Staff
In short, it's difficult to believe only 5% are impacted
It's Not Just a Widespread Theory, It's Apparently a Verified Fact: Home Appliances Not Made to Last Long
Washing machine repair man asserts that the machines sold a decade ago could maybe last a decade; now they last barely 5 years.
Torvalds Capitulated on Rust and Slop, Now He's Paying the Price
they are pushing Microsoft and slop for grifters and scammers
Whistleblowers Needed: We Are Seeing Many Layoffs in Red Hat (Not Just in China), We Want to Know More
Last week we learned about some people who said they had left Red Hat or are leaving Red Hat
Links 19/05/2026: More Obituaries for Peter G. Neumann, Taiwan Abandoned by Cheeto House for Don's Personal Gain
Links for the day
Links 19/05/2026: Online 'Storage' (Surveillance) Accounts Lower Thresholds (Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos), Slop Debacles Expand (False Promises Made to Staff Regarding Compensation)
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 81 Out of 200: SLAPP Censorship Does Not Work If Your Sole Strategy is Revenge (and You Attack the Family)
Both yours and others'
Techrights at 20 (Soon)
It does not seek popularity or affirmation from "Establishment" outlets
We Pay More for Less, for Things That Last Less Time and Are Almost Impossible to Repair
Ever noticed how "modern" or "smart" TVs come with dumber and dumber (worse) controllers?
Vista 11 Turns 5 in a Couple of Months. Not Many People Use It.
It is the only supported version of Windows; many people move elsewhere
Head of GitHub Recently Left, Microsoft Need No Longer Report Mass Layoffs There (User Activity is Declining)
We've long said that LinkedIn and GitHub, which Microsoft bought, would likely end up like Skype
The Slop Bubble is Already Bursting
Slop is not desirable and the general public is growingly impatient, seeing that slop has improved nothing for them
Gemini Links 19/05/2026: Reliable Old Tech, Collection of Essays
Links for the day
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXVII - European Patent Office (EPO) Became a "Toxic Work Environment" When Cocaine Addicts Put in Charge
They are putting at risk colleagues by abusing them
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 18, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, May 18, 2026