Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part III: SCO, Finance, Older Technology and a Little More

Salt Lake City night light



Summary: Pretty boring week for Novell, but for those looking for events, here is an overview

SCO



LIKE MANY recent weeks, the past week has been exceptionally quiet, but we managed to find minor news involving Novell. Groklaw was apparently the only site that has kept track of the SCO case over the past week. There are two short articles about it:



i. Request for transcript of oral argument in SCO v Novell appeal denied

Wayne Gray filed a motion requesting either a transcript or an audio recording of the oral argument from last week in the appeal of SCO v. Novell.


ii. Hearing set for June 15 on US Trustee's Motion to Convert SCO to Ch. 7 (or Dismiss)

The hearing on the U.S. Trustee's motion to convert SCO's bankruptcy from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7, or to dismiss, has been set for June 15, 2009 at 02:00 PM at US Bankruptcy Court, 824 Market St., 6th Fl., Courtroom #3, Wilmington, Delaware.

[...]

There are some other filings too, with a few mistakes being corrected in the record. I expect further entries, reflecting that both IBM and Novell have also filed motions to convert or dismiss. So, likely their motions will be added to the list of matters to be heard that day.


A little more here:

It looks like the end of SCO is finally upon us. Years ago I wrote that SCO had a limited lifetime because they kept pushing their brand of UNIX at the expense of Linux, even to the point of legal action. Then came Chapter 11 and now after a long time fighting they have gone into Chapter 7. The Bankruptcy Court has finally declared that SCO have not rehabilitated nor could they sell off their assets. Losing to Novell did not help either. SCO will continue to fight, they have no other choice, but it looks bleak for the former UNIX giant.


Finance



Novell's financial results are near and they will not be nice. Here is a new report from a company which is trying to sell it.

This Novell Inc - SWOT Analysis company profile is the essential source for top-level company data and information. The report examines the companyÂ’s key business structure and operations, history and products, and provides summary analysis of its key revenue lines and strategy.


The story of one investor is being told:

New Purchase: Novell Inc. (NOVL)

Arnold Van Den Berg initiated holdings in Novell Inc.. His purchase prices were between $3.16 and $4.4, with an estimated average price of $3.7. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was less than 0.01%. His holdings were 14,600 shares as of 03/31/2009.

Novell Inc. delivers infrastructure software for the Open Enterprise. Novell is a leader in enterprise-wide operating systems based on Linux and open source and provides the enterprise management services required to operate mixed IT environments. Novell helps customers minimize cost complexity and risk allowing them to focus on innovation and growth. Novell Inc. has a market cap of $1.36 billion; its shares were traded at around $3.95 with a P/E ratio of 18.8 and P/S ratio of 1.4.


Netware



There is nothing significant here, just a few stories about Novell's ever-weakening business such as Netware:

i. Washington County Public Schools Delivers High Performance Wi-Fi

“Besides providing ample bandwidth and user capacity, we have a unique Novell implementation that no Wi-Fi vendor could get working wirelessly – we tested quite a few Wi-Fi access points, but the only one that worked seamlessly with Novell was Xirrus. Because each Array is able to do authentication, this allows a Novell user to login directly from the client, which means end users do not know they are on a wireless network as it acts just like a wired network.”


ii. California District Moves to 802.11n WiFi

"Our school district has 2,500 employees servicing over 20,000 K-12 students across 46 campuses--selecting the right WiFi solution was critical to our future online learning, not to mention the ability to better utilize our existing facilities and resources," said Dave Mundey, manager of technology and telecommunication services at Washington County Public Schools, in a statement released this week. "Besides providing ample bandwidth and user capacity, we have a unique Novell implementation that no WiFi vendor could get working wirelessly--we tested quite a few WiFi access points, but the only one that worked seamlessly with Novell was Xirrus. Because each Array is able to do authentication, this allows a Novell user to login directly from the client, which means end users do not know they are on a wireless network as it acts just like a wired network."


iii. The Phoenix Principle

So far, so good. Hartung’s analysis is acute. He gets better, recommending that since lock-ins make companies predictable, you should exploit those of your competitors. It’s great advice, and a perfect account of, for example, how Microsoft rolled right over Novell with its introduction of Windows NT Server.


Virtualisation



CIOL has a real article for a change and major parts of it promote Novell virtualisation (although not exclusively).

John Stetic, director, product management, systems and resource management, Novell, and Sandeep Menon, country head, Novell, talk to Deepa Damodaran of CIOL, on Novell's virtualization plans with Platespin.


A speculation regarding Oracle's acquisition of Virtual Iron is being contradicted by InfoWorld's virtualisation expert:

Mann said that every justification that he has seen or heard is just not reasonable. As examples, he stated the following:

[...]

It will prevent Novell from buying Virtual Iron's technology. Again, this is simply wrong. Novell is already beating Virtual Iron (and Oracle VM, for that matter) in all markets with PlateSpin, ZENworks, and Suse Xen, not to mention its partnership with Microsoft and Hyper-V. Again, there is no incentive at all for Novell to buy Virtual Iron.


In this new article, see a correction in the comments:

"...Sun Microsystems was recently acquired by Novell..."

Oracle rather than Novell...


What an embarrassing mistake to slip past the editor's attention.

Collaboration and Mail



Novell Teaming is said to have this deployment in Ohio.

In Dublin, Ohio, the city operates a Novell Teaming portal where government officials can run blogs, chat over instant messaging and share documents. In the next few months, the city plans to make the private network available to all citizens. In a future city scenario, a social network like this could allow residents to submit ideas for city improvements, chat with politicians and blog about their neighborhood over a secure and city-centric portal that caters to their local needs.


There was very little that could be found about Groupwise this week, but here it is listed in a couple of new pages (among a list of supported products):

i. IM tools for the chattering class

Formerly Gaim, now Pidgin, this multiprotocol client offers a bit more out of the box than Miranda does--but it's still light on its feet and offers useful features like chat history and emoticons without tinkering. It, too, has a portable version. Out of the box, it supports Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Lotus Sametime, MySpaceIM, MSN, Novell GroupWise, AIM, ICQ, QQ, SIMPLE, SILC, XMPP clients like Jabber and Google, Yahoo, and Zephyr. Some of these, like Yahoo, are limited to the basics of chatting and file-transferring.


ii. Can Apple Woo the IT Department?

Blackberry maker RIM has enterprise-focused software that can help the devices tie in with corporate networks and that works with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise. This is an absolute bottom-line requirement. If a device cannot get executives into their email, it simply cannot get broad IT support. Furthermore, a device will need to provide access to necessary corporate applications.


There is also this promotional GroupWise video that someone put on YouTube a few days ago.



Will Groupwise reach Ubuntu? Some people think so.

I stumbled onto this blog post earlier today — from dkpw’s Wikedfire — explaining how you can potentially install Novell’s GroupWise on Ubuntu. Novell doesn’t support GroupWise on Ubuntu. So, do dkpw’s step-by-step directions work? I must concede: I haven’t tried the install. But the mere mention of Novell GroupWise and Canonical’s Ubuntu in the same sentence raises some interesting considerations.


Identity and Management



On the identity side, Novell is mentioned again as a supporter of OpenID, but it is part of a sparse list.

Facebook joins AOL, Google, Microsoft, MySpace, Novell, Sun, Telecom and Yahoo as a company on board with OpenID. The foundation estimates that there are more than 1 billion OpenID-enabled user accounts with more than 40,000 Web sites supporting OpenID logins.


Novell keeps getting mentioned in articles such as this about Microsoft's ambitions in the same space

Sun OpenSSO is not the exclusive focus of the software giant however, as an interoperability bridge is also built between Geneva and Novell Access Manager 3.1.

“Interoperability testing of code name “Geneva” and Novel Access Manager is well underway. Microsoft and Novell have verified that Novell Access Manager can be used as an Identity Provider (IdP) with a code name “Geneva” Server Service Provider (SP) over WS-Federation or SAML 2.0 protocols. It has also been confirmed that a code name “Geneva” Server IdP can be used with a Novell Access Manager SP over WS-Federation or SAML 2.0 protocols,” Microsoft informed.


Security



Novell's Sentinel was mentioned in IDG in relation to cyberwar. We too are under regular DDoS attacks these days.

Distributed intrusion-prevention and firewall sensors send real-time data to be analyzed by what the Navy calls its Prometheus system, which includes the Novell Sentinel security event management system and SAS data management tools.


Regarding loss of national archives, a Novell vice president had this to say:

“There are several ways this incident could be avoided and the case of the missing hard drive would be irrelevant,” Nick Nikols, vice president of security at Novell told SCMagazieUS.com in an email Wednesday. “Obviously, you could put it in a drawer, lock it in a cabinet, or hire honest people that don't have shifty eyes, etc. However, the key to this incident is mainly negligence and a false sense of security, a scenario many companies and government organizations experience.”


People



Novell's former CEO, Eric Schmidt, was mentioned in the following article.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is a businessman who has earned both honor and money with the dawn of the digital era. He has a Ph.D. in computer engineering and has worked as chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems and CEO at Linux-maker Novell. Schmidt took over Google in 2001. He is also politically powerful enough to advise U.S. President Barack Obama.


Christopher Stone, a former vice chairman of Novell, appeared in Reuters to make this remark:

"We're the only computer company here. We're the only one left," says Christopher Stone, president and CEO. Stone is also a refugee from Data General and was vice chairman of Novell Inc., the information technology management software company based in nearby Waltham. Stone weighs the advantages of where he is now and what he's doing. "It's a great place to be. All the talent's here," he says. Of course, "this was designed to make wool sweaters, not computers. You can still smell the lanolin on a hot day."


Another former Novell senior makes his move.

MindGenius Appoints New Commercial Director, Dustin Newport



[...]

Other positions held included Sales Director at Novium Plc; EMEA Vice President of Sales for AppsMall LLC and held senior sales roles at Novell, Remedy Corporation and Informix.


Partners



Novell is listed as a notable partner of Cisco.

Partner parade

Cisco hauled out the big guns in support of the launch. In addition to the aforementioned EMC and VMware, BMC Software, Emulex, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, Novell, Oracle, QLogic and Red Hat all pledged support for the UCS.


Novell is also included in the following short list.

Noel Vallejo: We develop computer based training, which helps individuals to be certified in the IT space, like Microsoft's MCSE, Cisco, Novell, and CompTIA.


Video



Some new videos showed up throughout the week, some of which were mostly about SUSE and another about SEP.



There is also an interview with Novell's Marina Walser, but that's about all for now.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 2 Out of 200: Detailed Timeline From 2012 (Attack on Reporters That Question Restricted Boot) to 2024 (Lawsuit Against Reporter and His Wife in Another Continent)
we reproduce a document produced 2 years ago to give people more context and more facts
GNU/Linux in Laptops/Desktops Still Matters, It's Likely the Only Way to Achieve Software Freedom
Software Freedom requires all sorts of things at the "OS level"
Madame Streisand Wanted to Censor The Web, Instead She 'Created' a New Term, "Streisand Effect"
It is basically an own goal
Defending Women Isn't a Crime, Everybody Can Agree on That
Their culture is unlike ours
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part VI - Influx of Spaniards and Portuguese Workers (+77%) at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, Led by the 'Alicante Mafia'
There is now data supporting this assertion, new and complete data in fact
Nobody is Safe at IBM (or Red Hat)
There is no job security at IBM
Bad faith: Hugo Roy knew FSFE impersonating FSF before French tribunal, colleagues deceived
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
Links 04/03/2026: "The EU moves to kill infinite scrolling" and a call to "Nationalize Amazon"
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Evidence of Abuse in Our IRC Network
IRC's freedom can sometimes be its 'weakness' if not properly guarded
High GNU/Linux Adoption in Brunei Darussalam
It's worth noting (or at least noticing) that Microsoft loses ground in some of the countries where the government contracts paid the most
Media Blackout Reducing or Preventing Press Coverage of Microsoft Layoffs in 2026
Worse yet, there will be gaslighting and deceit
Gemini Links 04/03/2026: The Garnet Star, The Hunt, The SYN Attacks
Links for the day
The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Discussion Illuminates How Much Worse Things Have Gotten ("on Strike and Participated in the 'Meeting'")
a videoconference - not a physical meeting - discussed EPO policies
Free Software Foundation Supports Its Founder, Advertises His Talks in Switzerland
When you suppress voices, assuming the reasons for suppression are bunk, it is always bound to backfire very badly
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 03, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 03, 2026
Over 1,500 EPO Workers Went on Strike Last Week
a new publication which celebrates some accomplishments of industrial actions and calls for further actions
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Failed to Detect Fraud in Law Firms... Until It Was Too Late
Earlier today we contacted some more politicians about this and received mail from them as well
Our EPO and IBM Coverage Bears Fruit
In case insiders want to get in touch with us, please ensure or at least try doing so securely
Links 03/03/2026: "Scam Altman in Damage Control" and Oil Traffic Disrupted
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/03/2026: Phones, LLMs, and Changes on the Web
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Confirms Talk in Bern Next Week
Dr. Stallman has just formally confirmed his third talk this month in Switzerland
GNU/Linux at All-Time High in Guam
there are many computers in that island
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 1 Out of 200: Claim No. KB-2024-001270 in a Nutshell
abuse of process by a law firm working for an American who was arrested for strangling women and another American whose own spouse calls a "rapist"
When EPO Team Managers (TMs) Are Harassing People Who Strictly Apply the European Patent Convention (EPC) in Patent Examination
There are two strikes planned for this month
Confirmed: Using Slop Gets You Fired
Let the story of Benj Edwards be a cautionary tale
Links 03/03/2026: "No one wants to read your AI slop" and "chatbots in the kill chain"
Links for the day
EPO and "Equivalent to More Than 100 Days of Strike"
The industrial actions continue and already have a positive effect
Streisand Effect, the Microsoft Way
Microsoft has once again proven the Streisand Effect
Keeping Track of IBM Layoffs in March 2026
IBM depends on bribery
GNU/Linux Measured at 7% in Yemen
Windows is too hostile and dangerous
Links 03/03/2026: Security Breaches, Iceland Wants EU Membership, and "Wall Street–Backed Lawmakers Want to Help Banks Gouge You"
Links for the day
Queensland Health Payroll System: IBM billion-dollar-blowout inquiry
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 02, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 02, 2026
Gemini Links 03/03/2026: GrapheneOS and Keyboard Shortcuts
Links for the day
Tomorrow should be sunny (at long last!) and a generally productive dayProductive Week Ahead
Tomorrow should be sunny (at long last!) and a generally productive day
Only One Slopfarm Seems to Have Targeted "Linux" Today
It certainly does feel like the slop hype is reaching the "late life crisis" and companies that benefited from this bubble are overdue for a day of reckoning
Microsoft Mass Layoffs: Being Sacked at 1AM in the Morning
Watch what happens to Microsoft employees who get pregnant
Links 02/03/2026: More Social Control Media Bans, Climate Change Woes, and "Journalist With Germany's Deutsche Welle Arrested in Turkey"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/03/2026: Small Phones, "I 3D Printed My Brain", and "Managing 5 Servers at Once with tmux"
Links for the day
IBM is Trying to Hide Mass Layoffs, Not Only With NDAs and 'Scripted' LinkedIn Posts
From what we can gather (screenshot above), today many people leave IBM and Red Hat
Richard Stallman is Giving a Public Talk This Week (Friday in Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology)
His birthday is just around the corner.
Windows Falls to New Low in World's Largest Population (India)
Windows is now down to 7%
Never Miss a Good Opportunity to Shut Up and Drink Coffee
Threats come at a cost; each time you issue a threat you stigmatise yourself as a bully
Last Month Matthew Garrett Said Ridiculous Things After His Spouse Had Called Him a "Rapist", Now He's Trying to Take the Site Offline and Put My Family in Prison
The real issue of concern to him (and his alleged reputation) is the spouse and the matter is to be dealt with in America, not the UK
Machine-Generated Legal Documents, Over 2,000 Pages Sent to Us Today Alone
We now know that the papers we receive are produced using bots (algorithms)
Reporting to Our Politicians/MPs the Failure of the SRA to Stop Hired Guns Who Help Americans (Men Who Attack Women and Nowadays Also Attack British Reporters)
About a month ago my wife wrote to politicians to get the ball rolling
The Topic Many People Don't Want to Talk or Write About
"DEI" is inherently about making racial and gender patterns better reflect society's
XBox is Virtually Dead Already, What Next Will Die at Microsoft?
Now that there are mass layoffs at Microsoft datacentres it is not premature to speculate about what dies after XBox
For the First Time, statCounter Measures Internet Explorer at 0.01% "Market Share"
What Microsoft replaced it with is just a Chrome clone with extra spyware
Was a Lot of "Windows" and "Unknown" in Iran Just GNU/Linux in Disguise?
more than 1 in 10 desktop/laptop requests is estimated to be GNU/Linux
"Here in the UK, GNU/Linux rose to all-time high at Windows' expense"
Will this entail Software Freedom as well? This depends on all of us
Links 02/03/2026: Claude Code Causes a Mexican Government Cyberattack, "London Repair Week" Noted
Links for the day
2026 Microsoft Mass Layoffs in So-called 'AI' Datacentres, Why Doesn't the Mainstream Media Cover The News?
What does this tell us about the state of the media?
Don't Fall for "Top X Law Firms" in "Discipline Y", They Pay $Z to Get False Endorsement/s
It's a scheme, a scam, an elaborate fraud
More Publishers Have Turned From Slop Boosters Into Slop Sceptics and Critics
There's a "hidden cost" when one participates (for profit) in "pump and dump" schemes
TeX Live Has New Release, But Planet Debian Won't Tell You That
It 'unpersoned' the developer
LLM Slop Does Not Know People (It Knows Nothing) and Cannot Distinguish Between People. It's a Recipe for Disaster.
no way of knowing who's who
"Over 1,100 Law Firms Gone in Five Years" in the United Kingdom (UK) Alone
There are basically way too many lawyers (looking for "business", e.g. threats and lawfare) and not enough positions to fill
Microsoft FUD From Microsoft Site Helps Distract From Actual Microsoft Back Doors
Published on a Sunday
Free Software Foundation Needs to Become More Active in Europe to Avoid Impersonation by Microsoft-Sponsored Groups
So far we've hardly seen the FSF saying anything at all about the US president
Links 02/03/2026: "Not Envious of Billionaires" and Palantir SLAPPs "Swiss Magazine For Accurately Reporting That The Swiss Government Didn't Want Palantir"
Links for the day
There Has Never Been a Better Time to Quit Social Control Media
Those networks are selling something. And that something is not peace because peace does not sell "attention".
Microsoft Users Drowning in Slop, If They Complain Microsoft Censors Them
Like an authoritarian regime
IBM is Killing Red Hat's Portfolio - Including Linux - to Prop Up Ponzi Scheme ("AI")
IBM is killing Red Hat
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 01, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 01, 2026
Speed of Sites Matters
Being easily accessible all the time matters to us
Gemini Links 02/03/2026: Weird Phone Calls, Small Phones, and Exploring Racket
Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell on "Good Tech"
in the age of "rent everything" and "own nothing"