Novell Lies About SUSE Appliances

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2009-07-29 21:40:58 UTC
Modified: 2009-07-29 21:40:58 UTC

Peace of mind
Novell's "Industry's First Solution" is a Microsoft-taxed GNU/Linux distribution

Summary: Novell claims "Industry's First Solution" for something it merely imitated, i.e. created based on the high shoulders of others

Novell has just made a couple of related announcements about SUSE appliances, but it is being dishonest about them. The press release from Novell states in the headline that this is an "Industry's First Solution", but just like with Astrum, this is a case of Novell imitating a partner. We shall come back to it in a moment.

In addition to the press release referenced above, there was another one here, which said:

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are demonstrating tremendous support for the SUSE(R) Appliance Program from Novell, the industry's first, complete, end-to-end appliance solution that enables ISVs to rapidly build, update, configure and go to market with fully supported software and virtual appliances. These ISVs are taking advantage of the comprehensive go-to-market support for appliances offered by Novell, including distribution channel, joint marketing, pricing, and redistribution agreements that reduce the time to get an evaluation or production appliance ready for the market.

According to this listing, both press releases came out at the exact same time. One is an announcement of a product which is not truly new and the second is intended to just generate hype about it. Did the hype work? Well, it depends. Novell's Chief Marketing Officer used his blog to generate some buzz and Novell's PR people released episode 3 of a series -- one about SUSE Studio. From Dragoon:

Novell’s SUSE Appliance Program announcement today promises to deliver the same “set it and forget it” benefits.

There was also a new video.

SUSE member Ben Kevan added his voice and linked to this new review of SUSE Studio (not the same but related), which is summarised as follows:

Linux is well known for being very customizable, but with SUSE Studio, things are taken to an entirely new level. Imagine taking a base template, building on top of it with your personal software choices, then configuring countless other aspects (even a SQL database), and then building it as a bootable ISO or VM. That's exactly what makes SUSE Studio so great.

Then came a bunch of news sites which covered it.

ZDNet: Novell releases Suse appliance-building kit

Novell has launched a free group of technologies that will allow developers to create and deploy software appliances that can run in any virtual environment.

The Register: Novell punts tools to make software appliances

SUSE Studio went into alpha in February, when Novell announced a partnership to package up SUSE Linux appliances and distribute them inside virtual machines compatible with VMware's ESX Server hypervisor. SUSE Studio is a homegrown Linux and appliance software spinner that now has an improved user interface, according to Matt Richards, senior program manager for the appliance program at Novell.

Heise: Novell announces SUSE Appliance Program

Novell has announced the launch of the SUSE Appliance Program for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). With the Appliance Program, ISVs can can create software appliances, such as an email server for a small office, using SUSE Linux Enterprise or openSUSE and SUSE Studio, test their appliances and get them to the market.

OStatic: Novell's SUSE Appliance Program Enables Roll Your Own Linux

Today, Novell announced its SUSE Appliance Program, which encompasses Suse Studio Online, a customizable, lightweight version of Linux called SUSE Linux Enterprise JeOS (Just Enough Operating System), tie-ins with Amazon's cloud services, and full support for custom software.

Seemingly, all of the above coverage missed the simple fact that Novell stomped on rPath, which is in fact more or less the originator of the idea. rPath writes:

So, it was with both pride and dismay that I read today’s news from our friends at Novell:

“Novell Announces Industry’s First Solution for Creating and Deploying Fully Supported Software Appliances.”

[Cue record needle scratch].

Industry’s first? A stretch, to be sure, but never let the facts get in the way of a good story, I suppose.

rPath has some history with Novell [1, 2, 3], but eventually it moved on and considered a wider set of GNU/Linux distributions. Here we have Novell claiming credit for something they were not trailblazers in. Astrum and Novell are a similar story and there was also a lawsuit. The short story is that Novell allegedly copied the ideas of Astrum and then dumped them. Shades of Microsoft... ⬆

Comments

eet

2009-07-30 04:41:17

"Barack Obama Lies About First Lady" It was confirmed that Michelle Obama actually wasn't the first lady; indeed the human race had produced several females before her.

Blah. Roy, get some decency and stop the word-twisting. Even if you hate Novell from the bottom of your little, black heart, you have to admit that susestudio is great.
JohnD

2009-07-30 21:29:09

It seems Novell's statement about being first wasn't focused on the appliance, but all the other stuff included with it: "# John Dragoon Says: July 30th, 2009 at 10:00 am

We do recognize there are other appliance building products in the marketplace.

Here’s is what we are doing that is different. We are providing the combined business and technical program for ISVs. From the business standpoint, we are providing our ISVs with leading distribution partners like Tech Data, market development, evaluation redistribution and other elements to help ISVs easily sell appliances. On the technical side, we have the operating system (SUSE Linux) and innovative and easy to use tools (like SUSE Studio) to help ISVs build, manage and support applications. Early reaction from ISVs has been terrific indicating we are serving an unmet need for this unique business and technical solution." It seems that Novell feels their solutions provides things the others aren't. If this is the case, Novell is technically correct in stating that they are "first" company to offer the "complete" solution. Amazing what happens when you ask questions. Of course one has to have a desire to ask the questions instead of jumping to conclusions.
zatoichi

2009-07-30 14:27:35

Roy won't admit anything that would cast his axioms—Microsoft is Satan and Novell is the Antichrist—into doubt.

Novell Lies About SUSE Appliances

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