Bonum Certa Men Certa

Do-No-Evil Saturday - Part II: Novell's Business Activities, Bar SUSE and GNU/Linux

Security and Identity Management



Novell's PR department boasts another award.

I’m pleased to say we did not leave the awards event empty-handed. Novell customer BASF received an award for “Best internal Identity Management project” for implementing identity management within a complex corporate structure and excelling in consistent approaches to centralized auditing.


Jeff Jaffe has a go at an outline of Identity Management plans.

Novell has long been a leader in technology for Identity Management – founding the entire discipline in the 1990s. That puts us in a position where we are the first to recognize new trends in this area.


Novell makes a short appearance in this article about building an identity bus.

One of the most interesting "panel discussions" I had at the European Identity Conference didn't have anyone in the audience. Kuppinger & Cole senior analyst Felix Gaehtgens gathered Microsoft's Kim Cameron, Quest's Jackson Shaw (former colleagues at Zoomit) and Novell's Dale Olds for a video interview (which may or may not show up at the KCP Web site) about the "Identity Bus" .


Inc.com has this new article about Security Management from Novell

The new solution addresses governance, risk and compliance, human resources and enterprise resource planning, providing customers with access to policy management and enforcement capabilities that help reduce redundant administrative costs, automate manual processes, simplify password management, and adapt to changing employee structures.


More on security with a different slant you'll find right here:

Hackers are improving and evolving viruses by the day, making it even tougher to prevent infection, but being vigilant can pay off, writes Bryan Collins.

[...]

However, Brian Green, technical director of Novell UK and Ireland, warned against taking security measures too far.

“That would have a real impact on me personally because I tend to use USB memory keys to transfer data,” he said about having his USB stick blocked. “How [Novell] have addressed that . . . is to allow me to use the USB memory but actually only to use USB memory sticks that are formatted by Novell.”


Strategy and Skills



Novell keeps harping about relying on its channel partners.

Speroni believes Novell had slightly neglected its channel partners, but since the second half of fiscal year 2007, ended October 31, 2007, the firm has been rebuilding its partner strategy by offering a stronger focus on specialization per business unit.


Be aware of this repeated warning from a reader ('Open Honesty') about Novell back-stabbing its channel partners.

Here is a migration from Novell to Microsoft.

This is deep in computer-nerdland, but there's also a sure-to-be-spendy and hair-raising transition from Novell Groupwise e-mail to Microsoft Exchange, a Novell-to-Microsoft inventory/distribution/configuration system switch, and upgrades from Office 2000 to Office 2007. (Close-circuit to Stribites: Get to know "ribbons"!)


Some short bits about Novell technologies skills you'll find in this article from the press in New Zealand.

Swann won’t say where he has found such carnage, but admits it ranges from SMEs to well-known organisations. Computer Concepts also claims skills in clustering, not just SANs, with skills in Microsoft, Novell and Citrix. It is an authorised repairer for HP and IBM and a Cisco premier partner.


Ex-Novellers



Consider these some minor items for the curious. Robert Frankenberg, a former Novell head, is involved in this $40.6 million sale of iProvo.

iProvo, the city's troubled fiber-optic network, is being sold to Broadweave Networks.

[...]

The company is headed by Fraser Bullock, former chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and former Novell head Robert Frankenberg.


Novell's former CEO receives some credit for being among the spoilers of a Yahoo/Microsoft deal.

Steve Ballmer and Eric Schmidt have tangled before. Microsoft certainly got the best of Novell way back when. Now Schmidt may have had his revenge.


There were apparently some moves (departures) at the top of Novell Canada because Ross Chevalier has just been promoted to fill a gap.

Ross Chevalier has been promoted to president of Novell Canada Ltd. He was previously Novell Canada's chief technology officer. Katie McAuliff has been promoted to VP of channels at Novell Americas. Novell Inc. (Nasdaq:NOVL) provides a Linux platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management software. Novell Canada has its headquarters in Markham.


That's about all for now. For the SUSE post we will need to transcode and produce some Ogg Theora files, so please bear with us. It'll come later today.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 25/03/2026: Nations Return to Russian Oil and Burning Wood
Links for the day
Gnome Foundation Inc is in Trouble
the agenda is set GAFAM and IBM rather than donors
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Microsoft's "Silent Layoffs" in Slop Clothing
"AI-powered transformation" is just a euphemism for mass layoffs
Where and How to Spot LLM Slop
Many people correctly perceive LLMs as a site's downfall, a step towards the abyss
Public Talk by Richard Stallman in Half a Day "at the Engineering and Architecture Campus of Cesena of the University of Bologna"
He'll probably attract a fairly large crowd
Gemini Links 26/03/2026: Buying a House, Stargazing, OFFLFIRSOCH 2026
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/03/2026: Resisting Authoritarianism and Why Slop Needs to Go Away
Links for the day
Fedora Maintainer-ship Using Slop (Mistakes) Would Make Fedora Less Reliable
It won't produce reliable code or stable systems one can rely upon
IBM's "Legacy Employees" (Experienced Workers, IBM Management Dubs Them 'Dinobabies')
This notion of "legacy employees" seems like something overlapping with "expensive" (well paid) staff, even if not entirely equivalent
EPO's "Current Industrial Actions Are Likely to Intensify Further."
There is another strike in 5 days
This Morning The Register MS Published Slop Promotion With the Term "AI" 15 Times In It. The Register MS Was (As Usual) Paid to Do This
This is not a serious publisher
SLAPP Censorship - Part 23 Out of 200: We Were Right All Along (for 2 Years) About Third Party Funding and Willingness to 'Break the Bank' in Pursuit of "Revenge"
How much damage can a person do to oneself in pursuit of cover-up of legitimate technical concerns?
Links 25/03/2026: Airports Further Militarised, "Slopification and Its Discontents", Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' Shutting Things Down
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/03/2026: Blogging Fright and Absolutely Useless 'Apps' Made by Slop Machines
Links for the day
Rise in Energy Prices Will Significantly Accelerate the Death of So-called "AI Companies"
It should be noted that fake news about Microsoft OpenAI doubling workforce (mere words, not actions) can serve as a nice distraction from the death of Sora due to divestment
It's Always a Question of Trust
There's a widespread stigma of lawyers being manipulative and chronically dishonest
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Must More Carefully Investigate or Assess the Financial State of Law Firms in the UK
We'll cover this in depth in the future
GAFAM Mozilla Removes Theora Support, Now GNU Needs to Re-encode Videos
Mozilla used to mean something to Free software advocates
An Open Admission Profits Depend on Addiction
Proprietary software tends to be like this
IBM Americas President Ayman Antoun Comes to OpenText, Weeks Ahead the Mass Layoffs Begin
Is that what IBM will be good at?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 24, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 22 Out of 200: When You Complain People Impersonate You in IRC (But You Yourself Impersonate People in IRC and Lock Them Out of Their IRC Handles)
We'll cover this with direct evidence some time soon
Gemini Links 24/03/2026: Junk Drawer Time Capsule and Building Outside Alire
Links for the day
Not Much LLM Slop About "Linux" Lately, It Only Ever Comes From the Same Few Sites
As long as only few such sites use LLM slop we can skip and avoid them
Links 24/03/2026: "Epic Lays Off Over 1000 Employees" and US in Financial Trouble According to the Fed
Links for the day
The "Media" Does Not Only 'Miss' Mass Layoffs
"The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it"
The Empty Suits of IBM Managers (NIH or "Nothing Invented Here")
IBM's management adopted the business model of parasites
2012: 'Secure' (Microsoft-Controlled) Boot Has Not (Yet) Been Made Obligatory. 2026: systemd Has Not Implemented Age Verification
should we stop calling "nazi" everyone we don't agree with?
More Threats (Including Physical Threats) Against Us Are a Dumb Move
It's like a "hit list" (targets list) and I shall keep the police duly informed
New Example of Pentagon in "Feminist" Clothing Inside Fake News of Publishers Paid to Promote Outsourcing to US ("Clown Computing") and American Slop
Google now pays money to promote Google as a friend of women
Hating Techrights is a Career
but is it good for civil society?
Dr. Stallman’s Work Will Never be Considered 'Mainstream' Because He Rejects and Works Against the So-called 'Mainstream'
Try to be more like Stallman
The New Layoffs: 'Silent Layoffs', 'Secret Layoffs', 'Quiet Layoffs', 'Passive Layoffs' 'Stealth Layoffs', and Unannounced Layoffs Disguised as Return-to-Office (RTO Mandates)
The US needs to revisit and fix the WARN Act
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part IX - Cocaine Addicts in Charge of the EPO Attacking Families of EPO Staff
Things like being high-profile and being a serious drug addict aren't opposites
What Feminism in Science Means (Codes of Conduct Don't Tackle the Real Issues)
Universality matters, more so in a project or community that's said to build the "universal operating system" (Debian)
SLAPP Censorship - Part 21 Out of 200: It's About Behaviour Online, Not How Much Money From Shadowy Third Parties Gets Spent on Lawyers and Two Barristers
75+ KG of legal papers, 2 cases, 2 barristers (one hiding in the metadata) and maybe two law firms (also hiding in the metadata) against two modest people in Manchester seems disproportionate and vindicative
Links 24/03/2026: "Airports on ICE" and "Have You Paid Your “Intuit Tax”?"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/03/2026: Slop Interview and Why Slop Makes Lousy Code
Links for the day
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk This Thursday at the University of Bologna (Italy)
Hardly the first time he speaks in Bologna
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 23, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 23, 2026