Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part II: Ballnux and MSI/HP Return, More Ballnux at CES 2010



Summary: A lot of news about distributions and vendors that let Microsoft have its way with Linux

SUSE (SLES/SLED)



Over the course of two weeks (including CES in the second week), a lot has happened in terms of new products. But just as a decade ended, SJVN decided to put together this list of key events which include the important buyout:



2003: Novell Buys SUSE

One of the great ironies of Linux business history is that Novell, not Red Hat, could have been the first great Linux company. In the early 90s, Novell was working on its own in-house Linux. With a change in management though the company abandoned its early Linux plans So, in 1994, that project's leaders, Bryan Sparks and Ransom Love left Novell to form a new company, Linux business Caldera. Fast forward to 2003, and Novell, which had changed management again, now realized that sticking with its rapidly aging NetWare had been a fool's move and so it bought SUSE.


That's how it started. Here is a sign of SUSE collaboration with SGI, thanks to one report from The Register.

The current machine has a peak capacity of 820 gigaflops and runs Novell's SUSE Linux with SGI's ProPack extensions and math libraries.


Also from The Register:

IBM joyfully outs Core i3 chips in entry servers



[...]

On these two servers, IBM is supporting Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, Red Hat's Enterprise Linux Server 4 and 5, and Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and 11. VMware's ESX 4.0 and ESXi 4.0 hypervisors are also supported. As has been the case on prior System x machines, various implementations of the Xen hypervisor have not been certified on the boxes, and Hyper-V has also yet to be certified.


It's not an exclusive for SUSE (Novell is still trying to find a niche or specialty) and neither is this article about GNU/Linux in small businesses.

While you can still download many free versions of Linux online, for convenience sake, several vendors offer user-friendly versions and charge a fee for support. Red Hat and Novell are the primary desktop Linux vendors, accounting for nearly 95 percent of the operating system revenue in 2008, according to IDC. Further, these two companies claimed 90 percent of worldwide Linux subscribers during 2008.

[...]

Novell

It is several years now since Novell acquired SUSE Linux. The company now offers SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop which, like Red Hat, is compatible with a wide range of business applications. It can be deployed on desktops, netbooks, notebooks, workstations or even as a virtual desktop.

Novell also has partnerships with hardware vendors including HP, Dell, Lenovo, Wyse and Micro-Star International. These companies offer SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop preloaded on lots of devices. If you go to the HP site and order a desktop with Linux, for example, you get SUSE.


Here is a new interview with Novell's Greg Kroah-Hartman. It's about SUSE.

Greg Kroah-Hartman is a Linux kernel maintainer, and head of the Linux Drivers Project. He is a Novell Fellow, and works on the SUSE distribution for that company. At the Linux Foundation, Kroah-Hartman has helped to compile the “Who Writes Linux?” survey for the past few years. We caught up to him in early October and talked to him about his work past, present and future on the Linux kernel.


Phoronix wrote about the contributions of another Linux developer from Novell, David Reveman.

Back in 2008, Novell's David Reveman published his own branch of the Distributed Multi-head X (DMX) server which he called dmx-2 as it was close to a complete rewrite of the original DMX implementation. David's DMX-2 branch was less complex but provided a greater set of features, including X-Video, RandR 1.2, and Composite support in a DMX environment, D-Bus configuration, and many other changes. This branch was never merged to master, but now Red Hat's Adam Jackson is looking at merging some of the DMX-2 to work into the mainline X Server.


HP's new sub-notebook has a SUSE option, as before. The real news is about touchscreens.

The netbook will be available by the end of January with the Windows 7, Windows XP, Suse Linux or FreeDOS operating systems.


More here:

A GPS option is also available, and options such as Novell Suse Linux and Sled are supported as well as Microsoft Windows.


SUSE Studio received some coverage in Asia.

Novell Inc, a global software and services company, is helping independent software vendors (ISVs) and end-users suss out and iron out their software problems with its Suse Studio tool.

Suse Studio is part of the Novell Suse’s appliance strategy that enables ISVs to create software appliances.


And from South Africa:

The latest SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 platform for Workgroup customers is now available in South Africa, announced today Novell. SUSE Linux 10 Service Pack 3 comes with the latest updates issues and hardware support for server, storage and networking.


This brings us to the most major news from SUSE, which is this announcement of an MSI sub-notebook running SUSE/Moblin (here is the official press release).

According to Guy Lunardi, Novell's director of client preloads, the mix and match of SUSE/Moblin's core package is built on top of the Moblin 2.1's 2.6.31 Linux kernel. Above that, most of the software is from SLED 11. Instead of KDE 4.3, though, for the interface, it uses the Moblin Web-oriented interface. So, for example, to use Firefox for your Web browser, you'll get to it via the Moblin toolbar.


Lunardi has been focused on these goals for quite some time now [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. This was covered in many other news sites.

MSI and Novell will ship in February the first netbook based on the SUSE Moblin open-source Linux operating system. The pair is showing the device at this week's CES event in Las Vegas.


Here is the official page from Novell. It says:

SUSE Moblin combined with Intel Atom Processor-based netbooks and nettops equals a paradigm shift in computing.


As for something a little different, a few days ago someone uploaded this video of eDirectory on SUSE:



Samsung



Both SUSE and Samsung (Ballnux) find themselves united in the hands of Roger Whittaker, who has worked for SUSE for a very long time.

Exactly ten years ago today (Tuesday 4th January 2000) was the first working day of 2000 and was the day that I started work at SuSE Linux Ltd at Borehamwood. A lot has happened since then...


Samsung has a new phone which uses Android (Linux) and The Register wrote about it the following:

It seems no one will be updating the Galaxy to Android 2, annoying customers whose purchase decision was based on what it would do rather than what it could do.


Samsung has other new phones that we covered here before -- ones that continue to receive coverage elsewhere.

The Samsung M1 Vodafone 360 is a handset that offers a veritable feast of functions encased within a smart and stylish casing. It is a recently released smart phone which adds a different dimension to the Samsung range. The handset comes with an ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor, whilst employing the benefits of Power VR SDX graphics capabilities. In addition it utilises the Linux based LiMo operating system.


It's not just ARM for Samsung. They will also use x86 for future sub-notebooks with HyperSpace (Linux):

Samsung announced four netbooks using Intel's new N450 "Pineview" Atom. The N210, N220, N150, and NB30 include 10.1-inch "anti-reflective" displays and up to 12 hours of battery life, and two models run the Linux-based Phoenix HyperSpace fast-boot environment, the company says.


It is likely that Samsung will pay Microsoft for Linux here, as they already agreed. Samsung also has new E-readers (more information at The Register):

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Samsung introduced its first e-book reading devices. They're called the E6 and the E101, coming in six and ten-inch screen sizes.


It probably runs Linux just like all E-readers. Microsoft should not be allowed to profit from Linux on E-readers. It's market distortion, even perversion.

More on Samsung at CES:

Personally, I'd rather see it united by a common cross-manufacturer platform. This could be like Linux (where there are different builds, but overall compatibility) or something more specific such as Android.


LG



LG is one of the companies that lost their Linux focus after a Microsoft patent deal that's an attack on Linux. Microsoft booster Gavin Clarke raves about the company's support of Windows Mobile, which is a terrible platform.

LG introduced some Ballnux products at CES as well, based on Intel's Moblin.

LG GW990 is manufacturers first device to run the Linux based Moblin 2.1 operating system. GW990 is powered by Intel’s Moorestown CPU and features a 4.8-inch panoramic widescreen display, 3D gaming, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, digital compass and 5 megapixel camera.


More at Ars Technica:

Intel has unveiled a new LG smartphone built on Moorestown that runs the Moblin Linux platform. The device will be among the first x86 smartphones.


Xandros



Presto seems like distant history judging by the press. It no longer generates any press coverage. Linux Today linked to a very old article about it and one reader wrote:

> I am surprised to see an article about a Linux distro that costs 19$, personally I would suggest that we stick to free software such as ubuntu NBR 9.10 that boots pretty fast and remains free!

It's $19, not 19$, and you're making the common mistake of confusing "free as in freedom" with free of cost. Read this, it will help: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html


It figures. This gets worse.

On the other hand, new buzz from Freescale happened to mention Xandros somewhere along the way [1, 2].

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

What Microsoft Hides Underneath
In recent years a lot of this shell game was played via "Open" "AI" [sic]
A Lot of Slopfarms Died, Google News Feeds the Few Which Survived and Still Target "Linux"
Many just simply died
Links 25/02/2026: Fifth Year of War in Ukraine, Dihydroxyacetone Man Looking to Start More Wars
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/02/2026: Retired a Year, Illness, Losing a Lung, and "Back to Gemini"
Links for the day
The Register MS Published a Ponzi Scheme-Boosting Fake Article This Morning. It Mentions "AI" 30 Times.
Will credibility be left after the bubble pops entirely?
They Try to Ruin Linux, Too ("Attestation" in GNU/Linux)
In the context of Web browsers, this isn't unprecedented and we wrote a lot about it
Mozzarella Company: All Our Cheese Comes With Mold Now, But You Can Ask the Seller to Remove the Mold
If you reject and oppose slop, do not download/use Firefox
Stallman Was Right About Back Doors
I had some conversations with Dr. Stallman about security and back doors
Australian Signals Directorate ex-employee sold back doors to Russia
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
IBM Debt-Loading and Liability (Toxic Asset) Offloading
One can hope that IBM will be subjected to the same attention Kyndryl received, but this boils down to politics
Links 25/02/2026: 'Hybrid Warfare' and "Boycott the State of the Union"
Links for the day
IBM (and Red Hat) Can Disappear in the Coming Years, Along With Kyndryl (Debt Twice as Big as Its 'Worth')
No wonder Red Hat workers tell us they hate IBM
Software Freedom is Science, But It Also Sustains Life
In some sense, Software Freedom can be explained in the context of nourishing people
“Xbox, like a lot of businesses that aren’t the core AI business, is being sunsetted."
There has been a lot of narrative control lately, including at 9PM on a Friday
3,300 Capsules Known to Lupa and Currently Accessible
Gemini Protocol turns 7 this summer
When it Comes to Firmware, the FSF and Its Founder RMS Won the Argument (But Not the Fight, Yet)
The "whataboutism" tactics are physiological manipulation means of discouraging those who move in the correct direction
Austria Tackles Digital Weapon Disguised as "Social" and/or "Media"
Are we seeing the end days of Social Control Media?
Nothing Over the Horizon for XBox
XBox is not even being sold in many places anymore
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Contradicting Itself: You Can Use Slop to Cheat Clients, But You Can Also Face Disciplinary Actions Over Slop
Where does the SRA stand on the matter?
In Praise of Eben Moglen
Hopefully Professor Moglen will be with us for many decades to come and become an active speaker on issues such as Software Freedom
Sunsetting IBM (for the Benefit of Few Corrupt Officials and Wall Street Speculators)
IBM will not (and cannot) survive for much longer [...] The issue is bad leadership, not any particular nationality/race
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 24, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Gemini Links 25/02/2026: Rise of Solar in 2025 and Smallnet Protocols
Links for the day
HR Blunder at IBM or IBM Struggling With Money?
Weird for such an allegedly rich company to be so stingy
Gemini Links 24/02/2026: x86 Computer In-Browser and Administration
Links for the day
Envy is the #1 Enemy of Richard Stallman
Whenever you see someone mocking Richard Stallman, ask yourself: does this person have a reason to be jealous of Richard Stallman?
Life is Sweeter When Less Means More
People need to think "small", not "big" (as in capital)
Championing a Cause
Probably over 100 million GNU/Linux users on laptops/desktops
Balmoral rape cult & Debian suicide cluster indifference, community
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Father of XBox Says What Microsoft Does Not Want to Hear About XBox (They All Know It's Dead)
Microsoft just worried shareholders will find out Sharma is "just a face" and an undertaker
Can Much Longer Can the Financial 'Press' (Pump-n-Dump Megaphone) Cheer for IBM's Accounting Enigma?
IBM has fallen almost 25%
France Needs to Focus on Software Freedom, Not Flags
We need more SIP advocacy!
Combatting Censorship in the "Civilised World": The Media Blackout Surrounding EPO Strikes and Other Large-Scale Actions
We - collectively speaking - cannot afford to keep the Office in the hands of a "Mafia"
Religious or Not, Consider Quitting Social Control Networks (All of Them) This Season
Lent is a good time to quit addiction such as social control media
EPO Strike Actions and Other Industrial Actions Are Effective When Management Fears the Staff and Staff No Longer Fears Any Managers
'António the unready' should get ready to be ousted
Liberating the Self From the Invisible Prison of Plutocrats-Controlled Media and Social Control Media
Can you always see the full picture or does something (someone powerful) obstruct it?
Links 24/02/2026: Drug Cartel Decapitated, Jeffrey Epstein-Connected 'Linux' Foundation Promotes Slop and Buzzwords at MWC Barcelona 2026
Links for the day
2023: Layoffs Are Because of "AI". 2024: Shares Up Owing to "AI". 2025: Shares Recently Fell Due to "AI". 2026 Forbes (Paid by IBM): Shares Falling is Good!
"AI" is smoke and mirrors
Bitcoin: Code of Conduct stifled open source concerns
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Slop Boosters and 'Hype Agents' Render Themselves Irrelevant and the General Public Becomes Incredulous Due to "Bros Who Cry Wolf!"
It won't age well
"Half-baked Vibe Code Shipped Full of Errors"
Seems timely after our latest article
IBM Did Not Fall Because of COBOL Vapourware, IBM Still Collapses Because It's Worthless, Way Overvalued, and Very Likely Cooks the Books
language-to-language conversion (in the context of programming) is nothing new
Links 24/02/2026: Copyright Litigation Over Anne Frank’s Diary, "Arrogance of Developers"
Links for the day
Another New Low for Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA): Authorising Slop Disguised as "Legal Advice"
SRA is a lapdog - not a watchdog - of the "litigation industry"
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part IV - "Many Jobs Were Given to Spanish Employees for No Related Skills At All"
The EPO's fate might be similar to that of the XBox
Gemini Links 24/02/2026: Hardware Tinkering and Slop Bots Attacking the "Small Web"
Links for the day
Quitting Reddit (Social Control Media Controlled by Conde Nast)
There is a new post in Reddit
IBM is the World Champion at Layoffs and There Are Reportedly More Layoffs in IBM This Month (EU)
IBM fired 60,000 in 1993
Free Software is for Everyone
Young and old, rich and poor etc.
Gemini Links 24/02/2026: Voltage Divider on Slide Rule and Many Raspberry Pi Projects
Links for the day
Links 24/02/2026: Telephone Turns 150, Political News Catchup, and Rearmament
Links for the day
Asha Sharma "a Palliative Care Doctor Who Slides Xbox Gently Into the Night"
2026 will probably be the last year of XBox
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 23, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, February 23, 2026
Probably IBM's Worst Day in Wall Street in Well Over a Decade
They try to blame some Anthropic slop, but that's just a distraction from IBM having nothing to offer
The Monday After the 9PM-on-Friday Prepared Puff Pieces-Under-Embargo Microsoft Strategy for XBox Collapse
There are more layoffs ahead at Microsoft's XBox
Kyndryl Also in a Freefall Today, James Kavanaugh's Accounting Skills Seem to be Based on Pumping and Dumping
What is the real value of Kyndryl when its debt is about twice its alleged "worth"?
Not Much Left to "Pump" in This Slop Bubble
let's hope that by the end of the year the whole bubble fully implodes
IBM Common Stock Crashes Hard (Almost $100 Below the Levels of February's Beginning)
Another Kyndryl?
Links 23/02/2026: Withdrawal From Slop and Ukraine Invasion Enters Fifth Year
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/02/2026: Moving to Gentoo, Wake-on-LAN Script
Links for the day
Kyndryl Fell by About 50% in One Day, IBM Fell 23% in 20 Days
the IBM Titanic
Security and blobs, by Alex Oliva (GNU Linux-Libre)
Reprinted with permission from Alex Oliva
Trusting the Evil Maids
Don't listen to liars and frauds
Aaron Swartz Has Already Explained What Reddit/Conde Nast Meant to Him and Why We Should All Avoid Reddit If We Value Software Freedom
Aaron Swartz did not start Reddit
Valnet's Good Legacy of GNU/Linux Advocacy in Journalism Form
Let's hope they carry on like this
Techrights Thanks Every Single EPO Worker Who Went on Strike Today
We have so much in common
Coders and Thinkers
I used to be a hyper-productive coder; these days I do more thinking and writing
Slop (So-called 'genAI') is Not a Skill, Slop Gets You Suspended or Even Sacked, It Can Eventually End Your Career
Benj Edwards, a so-called 'Senior' so-called 'AI' so-called 'Reporter'
There is No Such Thing as "AI Skills", "AI Competency", "AI Fluency" Etc.
Slop does not give anybody an advantage
EPO Staff Union: The Strike Actions and Other Industrial Actions "Have Already Delivered Measurable Gains."
SUEPO Munich has just issued a statement to staff
Links 23/02/2026: "What Boston Will Cost Me" and Women as Hostages
Links for the day
IRC Usage Levels Seem to be Rebounding This Year
it looks like the total count (tally) of users increased a lot lately
Microsoft Tricked the Media Into Lying About Microsoft Layoffs in January. Now It Does the Same (in February).
Microsoft has got the media by the wallet (or balls)
Free Software Projects Become Slow Due to Slop
It does not improve efficiency or productivity, it reduces both
EPO Strike Has Begun (or Resumed)
The EPO status quo is untenable
Links 23/02/2026: US Surrenders to Climate Change (to Benefit Oil Companies and Slop), UK Court of Appeal to Hear Mazur
Links for the day
GAFAM Jobs No Longer Lucrative
Those days are long gone
Based on Insider Leaks, Asha Sharma's Job is to Kill XBox While Talking About "AI"
They cite SneakerSO
Germans Recognise the Contagion is Digital, Not Racial
How to dismantle or neutralise those weapons? Turn them off
Free Software (or Software Freedom) Ain't No Religion
It's hardly surprising that some of the loudest opponents of Software Freedom and its luminaries also disregard or bend facts
Dr. Andy Farnell Explains Why the Slop Industry is Like Trespassers and Thieves
interesting new article about robots.txt files
The Demise of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Profession Based Around Bullying With SLAPPs and Empty Threats
For press to survive and thrive in the UK we need the hired gun to be submerged
Linux Kernel 7.0 Release Candidate Comes Out, Stallman Turns 73 in Three Weeks
It predates Microsoft and Apple
In Greenland, Firefox's Gecko and KHTML (KDE, But Bastardised by Apple) Bigger Than Chrome
Are those Danes recognising the risk of monoculture?
Gemini Links 23/02/2026: Imperfect Journal, Evil, and "Progress Goes Boing!"
Links for the day
“Power is a Thing of Perception. They Don't Need to be Able to Kill You. They Just Need You to Think They are Able to Kill You” ― Julian Assange
When leadership becomes corrupt enough to lose a sense of authority its days are numbered; it'll be replaced
IBM Has Already Admitted 2026 Mass Layoffs (in 4Q Earnings Call)
We showed this earlier this month, but some people bring that up again
Reasons to Go on Strike in the European Patent Office (EPO)
If you live in Europe and don't work for the EPO, you can still help
First speech of Chanellor Hitler, Andreas Tille & Debian denounce Branden Robinson
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 22, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, February 22, 2026