Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part II: SLES+Itanium, Xandros, Samsung+Bada

Iguana



Summary: Distributions from which Microsoft is wielding power to 'tax' Linux are tracked on the Web

SUSE



IT has understandably been a quiet week for SUSE, which made the headlines in relation to BankIslami. "BankIslami chooses SUSE Linux enterprise," says this one headline:

Novell today announced that BankIslami Pakistan Limited, a dedicated Islamic commercial bank headquartered in Karachi, has chosen SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop as its operating platform of choice. With around 1400 users in 102 branches, SUSE Linux Enterprise provides BankIslami Pakistan with a secure, scalable, reliable and easy-to-use operating platform for its IT infrastructure. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is the platform for the Bank’s mission-critical application environment, while for desktops; SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is deployed on Sun Ray stateless thin-client terminals from Sun Microsystems.


BankIslami has actually been with SUSE for over 2 years, so it is not as though Novell won something new.

Last week we wrote about SUSE in relation to Itanium. Some more sites speak about it, but this is Red Hat news, not quite Novell/SUSE news.

That leaves Novell as the only major Linux supplier to still back Itanium, for the moment. As the Register points out, Novell has not tipped its hand one way or the other on the Itanium, and could very well extend support as a niche market, the way it does for the System z mainframe. But it seems clear that for most Linux providers, the IBM Power processor will be the high-end platform of choice.


More here:

Red Hat isn't the only enterprise Linux vendor to support Itanium: Rival Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is also a supporter, although it has yet to make any future predictions on whether it will support Itanium in its next release.

"Itanium is a fully supported platform for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, just as it was for previous versions," Michael Applebaum, senior solution marketing manager at Novell, told InternetNews.com. "We've worked closely with our processor and server partners -- including Intel, HP and others -- to deliver an optimized version of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for the Itanium architecture."


Novell's unfair treatment of SUSE developers got mentioned by IDG, which said:

IBM announced that layoffs might reach 16,000 and that Canadian staff would not be spared. Novell took the axe to 100 employees, mostly SUSE Linux developers


Here is a new video that reached YouTube a few days ago:



There are other companies that signed Novell-like deals.

Xandros



Xandros was again mentioned in relation to Freescale. But one of the main functions of Xandros these days seems to be helping Microsoft:

BridgeWays, a division of Xandros, today announced that ProacTIC, a leading provider of IT products and consulting services in the Dominican Republic, will bring BridgeWays multi-platform solutions to banks, retailers, and other businesses throughout the Caribbean.


In relation to the Eee PC, the following couple of posts have appeared:

i. ASUS Eee PC 1005PE review

By our count ASUS has released -- at the very least -- 20 Eee PC netbooks since 2008. Some had 8.9-inch or 10-inch displays, some ran Xandros Linux or Windows XP, and some packed hard drives instead of flash storage.


ii. ASUS Eee PC 1201N On Linux

ASUS has not been putting too much effort into their Xandros-based Linux operating system lately since Microsoft Windows 7 had launched, and sadly, with the Eee PC 1201N this does not change the game.


Samsung



The arrival of Bada has put Samsung in some Linux spotlights recently. But Samsung is part of Microsoft's Linux racket. Here are some new screenshots of Bada:



Images showing the user interface Samsung has grafted onto its upcoming Bada smartphone OS have appeared on the web.


Samsung is still working with Android, which contains Linux. It remains a bit of a mystery how Samsung and Microsoft arrange the 'taxation' of Linux, but they are definitely doing it.

About the Android-powered phones from Samsung, we have:

i. Samsung's New Android: It's Fun to Live in the Moment

The Moment is Samsung's latest Android handset, available through Sprint. The device maker has loaded the Moment with useful features, and Android is a strong OS in its own right. The slide-out keypad is very comfortable in a tactile sense, though visually its function markings need a little more contrast.


ii. Linux Mobile Powers the Vodafone 360 M1

The Vodafone 360 M1 is a Linux Mobile smart phone with amazing capabilities; this is the product of Samsung’s manufacturing and the Vodafone service. When three major industry giants with different specializations get together for a single device, you know it is going to be amazing. Still, the 360 M1 is the little brother of the even more powerful 360 H1 Linux Mobile smart phone. Frankly speaking, if the H1 is well within your budget, then you should get that phone instead.


The new GNU/Linux push from Foxconn seems promising. Foxconn employs about half a million people, so FoxOS does have a real chance and unlike Bada, it involves no patent deal with Microsoft.

Boycott Novell men

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 16/03/2026: Moscow Experiencing Cellphone Internet Outages, "Salman Rushdie Is Tired of Talking About Free Speech"
Links for the day
Debian is Dying for Some of the Same Reasons IBM's Fedora is Rapidly Dying
Prioritising CoC censorship, not communities
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
 
Someone at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is Censoring the Birthday Greetings to Richard Stallman
Some people remember
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
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?
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
Layoffs in Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft's LinkedIn
There are silent layoffs at Microsoft this month
We Don't Depend on Google and Don't Care for Google
We have our own site search and we don't depend on Google to bring visits/visitors to us
Change of Address at the Hired Guns, Address Removed
Companies tend to alter their 'shell structure' in anticipation of major action
Facebook Layoffs Due to Enormous Debt, Nothing to Do With "Hey Hi" Slop
The lies about "hey hi" in relation to layoffs will only contribute to further public resentment towards: 1) the media and 2) all the slop.
The Good IBM Managers Have Flown Away, All That's Left is the Book-Cooking Loyalists
IBM is just cheating the SEC and shareholders. This seems to be the only thing IBM's management is nowadays good at.
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 12 Out of 200: Months Ahead of Serial Strangler From Microsoft Who Helped Double the Lawsuits (Funded by Third Parties) as 'Revenge' for Exposing Crimes
In 2024 I sat down and wrote about what had been done to me and to my wife
Crime Comes in Many Forms
apparently the SRA is OK with stranglers of women in America bullying the media in the UK
commandlinux.com, linuxteck.com, linuxiac.com, and linuxsecurity.com are Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Domain Name
once readers realise they read slop they immediately lose interest
Links 14/03/2026: Adoption of Slop Has Killed BuzzFeed, Russia Sees "Economic Gain From Iran War"
Links for the day
Patriotism is Conditional, If It's Unconditional, Then It's Like a Cult
My love for Software Freedom is only as strong as my love for Freedom of the Press
Links 14/03/2026: Mass Layoffs at Facebook ('Meta') and Sweeping Layoffs at Twitter (xAI), Social Control Media and Slop Are Only Debt
Links for the day
Wrong Time, Wrong Place (Digg)
Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian can relaunch Digg.com, but we doubt it'll work "this time for real!"
Universities Became Bad Places for Work
What happened to academia?
Reporting New and Suppressed Information is What Journalism is All About
In the domain of Free software, there are very few sites out there that offer exclusive coverage on community affairs and there are many gagging/censorship attempts
The Limits of Speech and the Rationale of Limitations
it seems to be part of an international trend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 13, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, March 13, 2026
Gemini Links 14/03/2026: Goodness, AD534 Multiplier Module, and Extroverts Online
Links for the day