Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part III: SCO, PlateSpin Forge, Teaming, GroupWise, and More

View with a rock



Summary: The remainder of this week's news about Novell

There is almost nothing to see here but a few minor items.



Legal



The SCO saga was last mentioned in:

  1. A Look at the Microsoft-funded SCO Lawsuit in Light of Newer Anti-Linux Microsoft Lawsuits
  2. Novell Responds to SCO Ruling, More News Coverage
  3. More SCO Headlines and What Comes Next
  4. More SCO Headlines and What Comes Next


Nothing particularly exciting has happened since then, but ZDNet has some more coverage and Groklaw got a hold of another IBM letter. It seems likely that SCO is stuck in the middle of nowhere and will disappear real soon now. We've heard it all before, haven't we?

Netware



NetWare was mentioned very briefly in this article.

Other network operating systems, such as Novell Netware, have had access enumeration features for many releases, leaving one to wonder why Microsoft has waited so long to introduce it. The argument is that the feature isn't needed if properly configured permissions on objects are already in place, but that doesn't necessarily cover all the reasons one might want to hide the names of certain folders.


Another small history lesson:

And yet, that almost never happens. History says Google will struggle as technology shifts. But good luck figuring out what company might catch the next wave and give Google fits. In 1995, Gates worried about existing companies such as Novell and the start-up Netscape Communications. Neither wound up a serious rival. Google was three years from being born. Fear what you can’t see, not what you can.


Virtualisation



Ross Chevalier wrote about the subject while Novell's PR people were beating the Xen drum and IDG wrote about where Novell fits in the SpringSource takeover by VMware.

And as Microsoft, Red Hat and Novell move more into the virtualisation and application server markets where does that leave VMware? Well, now VMware has a competing offering.


Todd Weiss, who used to write for IDG, warns that VMware's state is similar to Novell's. It's a familiar analogy.

Some on Wall Street say the company's stock is overvalued. And a leading IT analyst thinks VMware could be headed for a Novell-like downfall.


Trading Markets repeated some of the expected buzz about PlateSpin Forge:

Novell today announced the availability of PlateSpin Forge 2.5, the latest release of the only all-in-one, out-of-the-box disaster recovery hardware appliance. PlateSpin Forge leverages virtualization to back-up and restore physical and virtual servers. In the event of production server downtime or a disaster, protected workloads can be rapidly recovered, including failover directly on the PlateSpin Forge appliance, so there is no need for additional hardware. The protected workloads can later be restored to the production environment, either to the repaired server, or even to a replacement server of a different make or model.


Also on PlateSpin Forge, from the same source:

Version 2.5 features an improved block-based transfer protocol, making replications up to 50 % faster than previous versions. In contrast to traditional file-based transfers that copy entire files, block-based transfer technology replicates only changed blocks at the disk level, dramatically reducing the amount of data transferred, according to the company.


Novell is attributed for sort of pioneering the division of labour among nodes in another article about sharing a CPU (virtualisation).

With the PC, the balance changed: although software became a commodity, every PC needed some. A single central computer that hosted the operating system, applications and data became an expensive and outmoded idea. Novell sold us the idea of networking PCs and Microsoft jumped on the bandwagon with Windows 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups.


Mail/Collaboration



A new press release (also found here) speaks about Novell Teaming as a "leader".

Novell Teaming was evaluated in several categories including security, team collaboration platform, and architecture and administration. The report also notes that, "Novell's acquisition of SiteScape and rebranding as Novell Teaming has placed it in a solid position as a collaborative platform vendor." A member of Novell's suite of Collaboration products, Novell Teaming is a next-generation collaborative application that brings people, projects and processes together in a workspace that boosts efficiency and fosters innovation.


Novell has also just released (or merely uploaded) two videos that promote Novell Teaming. Here is the first:



And the second video:



When it comes to GroupWise, attempts are still being made to reverse a decision in Los Angeles (more here). We wrote about this at the beginning of the month.

Some 15 bids were submitted to Los Angeles to replace its e-mail system. Those not selected appear to be unhappy at the prospect of losing millions of dollars in business to Google. In a July 20 letter, Novell client executive Brian Hervey said that his company wants to continue providing e-mail service to the city and offered a 10% discount on the annual maintenance fee.


IDG spreads more fear of Fog Computing and adds:

Shortly after the breach, some public interest groups and local law enforcement officials cited potential security concerns in calling on the city of Los Angeles to reconsider plans to replace its Novell GroupWise e-mail and Microsoft Office software with Google Inc.'s hosted e-mail and office productivity applications.


GroupWise support in BlackBerries is still being noted.

Management/Monitoring



BMC has bought a company in a move that may affect Novell because it entered this field in a similar fashion (an acquisition).

BMC competes with Novell, CA, IBM and a range of smaller vendors in the market for BSM (business service management) software, which is meant to help companies manage their IT infrastructure effectively and align it in support of business processes.


More here:

BMC on Monday said it has bought MQSoftware, maker of middleware that helps companies monitor the performance of IBM's WebSphere MQ as well as other platforms. Terms were not disclosed. BMC competes with Novell, CA, IBM and a range of smaller vendors in the market for business service management software, which is meant to help companies manage their IT infrastructure and align it with business processes. By purchasing MQSoftware, BMC wants a stronger play in companies that are working on SOA projects. WebSphere MQ is a messaging platform that allows various applications and systems to communicate with each other. It can play a key role in SOA implementations, which seek to create composite applications consisting of multiple, sometimes shared sources.


Security



When it comes to security, Novell's PR people have been very busy recently. A ZDNet placement from last week is promoted by Novell's marketing people now that it's 'sunk' in there. Novell is also mentioned in the following article which requires registration to read and there's this IDG article about Sentinel (in Swedish).

People



Former Novell managers are seen making their move, the latest examples being:

i . US Venture Partners takes on Gary Gysin as entrepreneur-in-residence

Before joining McData, Gyson was the senior vice president of products at Volera, a majority owned subsidiary of Novell. Prior to Volera, he held a variety of executive leadership roles including president and CEO of PGSoft, leading the company through five successful years culminating in the company’s sale to Novell. He was also vice president of sales and marketing at Crosswise Corporation, WorldTalk and Touch Communications.


ii. Revell leaves Zintel after six-month absence

Revell is a longtime figure in the New Zealand IT industry, having been general manager for Novell until 2003, held the role of services director at Computerland and solutions delivery manager at Gen-i, before becoming Zintel's managing director in 2006.


Partners



The little event which took place earlier this month (Burton) had Novell demonstrate identity management. This is mentioned by IDG.

Earlier this month both CA and Novell demonstrated identity management products tweaked to be able to provide better security to both cloud- and SaaS-based applications.


Novell's relationships with companies are also mentioned briefly in here, here, here, here, and here. It's all minor and almost negligible. Novell was also brought up by this publication which is known for its Novell affinity.

Videos



There is not much to see here except Novell's marketing videos and a Moodle tutorial that involves Novell's networking software.

These are the steps to create an account in Moodle in my district which has Moodle linked with Novell via LDAP.


Utah



Transit changes in Utah have Novell's campus mentioned, but this is nothing of significance.

A BRT line between Orem and Provo has been in MAG's long-term plans for quite some time, Eccles said. The approved plans call for the bus rapid transit line to run from an intermodal center west of Utah Valley University, around BYU to downtown Provo and down to the Novell campus in south Provo.


Here ends another week with no major Novell news to report.

Recent Techrights' Posts

British Justice Minister Sarah Sackman Blasts Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The "legal industry" is due for "some reckoning"
Someone at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is Censoring the Birthday Greetings to Richard Stallman
Some people remember
Links 16/03/2026: Moscow Experiencing Cellphone Internet Outages, "Salman Rushdie Is Tired of Talking About Free Speech"
Links for the day
 
Links 17/03/2026: American Fentanylware (TikTok) Investors Implicated in Kickbacks, "Big Oil Knew It Was Wrecking Louisiana’s Coast"
Links for the day
For Third Time in a Week The Register MS Runs Google SPAM That Paints Google as an Ally of Women (Which is False, They're Womanisers)
What does that make The Register MS to women?
GAFAM Deprecating Old Videos ("Content") by Removing the Support for Their Format for No Good Reason
"Security" is not a valid excuse
Credit/Debit Cards Have Long Been Called Plastics, Over Time They're Becoming More Like Pure Plastics
They cost less than a dollar to manufacture
The European Patent Office (EPO) Holds a Public Demonstration Tomorrow and It'll be Live-streamed
The EPO's workforce was meant to be capable of speaking many languages and have extensive experience in the sciences
People Who Attacked Techrights Also Attacked My Mother
Picking on old ladies because you don't like Free software advocates is never OK
Little Community Element Left in CentOS
CentOS, unlike Fedora, was meant to be long supported and solid
Social Control Media is Cancel Culture (Companies Like Facebook Also Punish/Ban Accounts for Mentioning "Linux" and Lobby for Anti-Linux Legislation)
The masters of Social Control Media decide what ideas can and cannot be expressed
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 16, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 16, 2026
The European Patent Office (EPO) Illegally Transitioning Into 'Gig' 'Economy' Equivalent (a Shop for Patent Monopolies in Europe)
for scabs aka SEALs
At Least Six EPO Strikes Next Month (Yes, Six!)
The pressure intensifies over time
Several MPs Blast Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for Inaction and Ineffective Action This Week
"Four MPs have written to the SRA"
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: The Abusive Cases of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft and His Litigation Buddy Garrett Did Cause "Serious Harm"
claims were de facto abandoned at the trial
Today's Discussions About How IBM Pushes Workers Out
The corporate media keeps trying - baselessly and in vain - to paint everything that happens with the "hey hi" brush
Linux Teck (linuxteck.com) and Ubuntu PIT (ubuntupit.com) Are Botspam
now they just keep experimenting by trashing their sites and reputation
Links 16/03/2026: Arctic Security and 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: KN95 Skins and CSS Surprises
Links for the day
Debian is Dying for Some of the Same Reasons IBM's Fedora is Rapidly Dying
Prioritising CoC censorship, not communities
The Register MS is Again Femmewashing GAFAM (Which Makes Widows) in Exchange for Money
This is a moral issue because they betray or harm women and prop up authoritarian regimes
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: AB 1043, Lagrange Android Beta 47, and Poetry
Links for the day
"Slop-forking" or "Vibe-forking" as the New 'Noble' Plagiarism
New Cloudflare Slop Project?
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part VII - Cult Mentality, Mobbing, Nepotism
Does the EPO actually believe in the law?
2026 Microsoft Layoff Rumours
Surely if we had properly-functioning media, then someone would investigate this rather than rely on official statements from Microsoft and WARN notices
EPO Strike This Week
contact your national representatives about it
Gemini Links 15/03/2026: "Create Opportunities for Good Things to Happen", DOSbook, and Bitcoin Criticism
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 15, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 15, 2026
Pirate Praveen Arimbrathodiyil & Debian denouncing volunteers, hiding romances
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 15/03/2026: WB Games Montréal Undergoes Layoffs, "Swiss Reject Cuts to Public Broadcasting"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/03/2026: Messages in Bottles and Audio Streaming in Lagrange for Android
Links for the day
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 13 Out of 200: Abuse of Process to Make False Accusations of UKGDPR Violations
familiar barrister and same lawyers
Thrown Under the Microsoft Bus
Microsoft wants disposable contractors
Quitting IBM and "Rumors of an Upcoming RA [Mass Layoffs] in April 2026"
Blue layoffs or "RAs" were confirmed upfront by the CFO
GNU/Linux Distro Builders Barely Paid Enough to Pay Basic Bills, Chief of "Linux" Foundation (Not Even Using Linux!) Increases His Own Salary by Over 50% in 5 Years
Salaries or compensation correlate with the ability to exploit people, not to create things
What Puts the Brakes on GNU/Linux Adoption on Laptops and Desktops is Monopoly Control (or Monoculture) Over the Distros
Distros that adopt systemd are controlled by IBM and GAFAM
The "Zero-Sum" Fallacy
Fallacies like "zero-sum" - especially in the context of foreign affairs including war - are utterly ruinous
A Happy Birthday to Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman will turn 73
Jürgen Habermas is Dead, But the Politicised, Inherently Corrupt, Corporatised Court for Patents That He Inspired Is Not
In the news throughout the weekend
Mountains of Abuses of Process by Brett Wilson LLP on Behalf of Americans and Sometimes at the Expense of British Taxpayers
a virtual "limited liability"
linuxteck.com FUD by LLM Slop, ubuntupit.com Passes the Slop Baton
Unless they get back to doing long-form authentic articles, as opposed to slop, no good will come out of it
Links 15/03/2026: New Shortages, Lynx Populations Depletion
Links for the day
Sruthi Chandran & Debian Diversity, Favoritism, Hidden Conflicts of Interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
software in the public domain
Reprinted with permission from Alex Oliva
Links 15/03/2026: Slop "Bubble Driving Interest in Chip Alternatives" and Wildlife Erosion Reported
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 14, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, March 14, 2026