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

RMS Was Right 35 Years Ago
Stallman’s viewpoints have remained the same
Fedora is IBM and There's Hardly Any Community Left
It's more like an onboarding mechanism for unpaid labour at (and for) IBM
IBM to Announce 'Results' Shortly, Expect Lots of Chaff Like "Quantum" and "Hey Hi" (Nothing Material to Show)
We're still seeing layoffs and an exodus
 
Goodbyes to Red Hat and IBM
PIPs let them do the same with less "wasted" on severance or with obscene narrative-shaping
The Need to Understand the Projection Tactics Against RMS
There's an old and common saying (or "wisdom") about who's guilty when there's a fart in elevators (lifts)
Links 29/01/2026: Neocities Is Blocked by Microsoft, “Intellectual Freedom Centers” as the New "Intelligent Design"
Links for the day
Microsoft XBox Dying Not Only as a Console, Reveals Microsoft
Microsoft is trying to rebrand or repurpose the brand
Don't be Mistaken, Microsoft Boasts About Money That Does Not Exist and Revenue (Buying From Oneself!) Is Not Income
the company's debt grew
IBM's Financial Performance in IBM's Own Words: Money Down, Debt Up Sharply
IBM isn't a healthy company
In Dominica, GNU/Linux Has Risen to All-Time High in 2026
a lot of America is moving to Free software this year
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XV - EPO is on Strike Tomorrow, Lots to be Angry About (Except Money)
We'll soon finish the series
Gemini Links 29/01/2026: "Lady Audley's Secret" and "The Value Of Our Fear" (Carney's Speech)
Links for the day
Emmanuel Macron on Europe's GAFAM Addiction/Dependence: "There is No Such Thing as Happy Vassalage"
Microsoft has long worked to prevent commodification
It's Official, Mass Layoffs at IBM Again (2026)
In a matter of days we'll just see how much IBM's debt has grown
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Laos and Microsoft: About 10% Windows, 0% Bing
There are many more nations like it
EPO Technical Meetings Show no Breakthroughs, a Strike Goes Ahead This Friday
Apparently there was another (fourth) meeting today [...] The industrial actions are working already
Google News as the Sole Source of Slop About "Linux", a Feeder of Slopfarms or Serial Sloppers
At least it's no longer hard to 'contain' the slop problem, knowing which domains are the culprits and seeing that Google is their main 'feeder'
Links 28/01/2026: ChatGPT Has Financial Problems, White House Sharing Fakes (or Deepfakes) in Official Accounts/Sites
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/01/2026: FlatCube NES Port Finished and "Why I Still Write on the Small Web in 2026"
Links for the day
Upcoming Techrights Series About the Public Appearances of Richard M. Stallman (RMS) in the United States
we plan to drop all pretences about "Open Source" and instead focus on Software Freedom
Upcoming Techrights Series About the Experiences of EPO Insiders
We'll start the new series some time next week
Links 28/01/2026: Microsoft Ordered to Stop Spying on School Children, Apple's Brand Tarnished by Its Complicity With Human Rights Abusers
Links for the day
Upcoming Techrights Series About the Failure of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to Stop Hired Guns Who Work for Americans That Abuse Women
The SRA has demonstrated nothing but considerable incompetence at many levels
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XIV - The EPO Vice-President Steve Rowan and the Hidden Alicante Connection is a Big Deal
We'll soon take a closer look at Ernst
Gemini Links 28/01/2026: Particle and AirMIDI
Links for the day
Amandine Jambert (EDPB/CNIL/FSFE), motive for lying, trust in blockchain and encryption
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Expect More XBox Layoffs Shortly
As expected
Links 27/01/2026: Japan-China Feud Escalates Again, "Iran's Internet Blackout Persists"
Links for the day
Online 'Gathering' Held Today to Organise Industrial Actions in EPO, Strikes Will be Starting Shortly
"Online Extraordinary General Meeting on Action Plan"
It's Not About What You Know, It's About Who You Know (and Stay Quiet About the Cocaine)
This is not an organisation that exists to ensure laws are followed
FOSDEM 2026: democracy panel: FSFE uses women as stooges, gerrymander
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Must Use Proprietary JavaScript to Submit Feedback to the European Commission About Moving From GAFAM to Free Software
Nevertheless, go tell them why Software Freedom would benefit Europe's defence and economy
Distortion of the Facts About Mass Layoffs at IBM
more layoffs are ahead
Gemini Links 27/01/2026: "Waiting Isn't a Waste", Posting from Lynx, and Bookmarks
Links for the day
Links 27/01/2026: "Oracle Debt and TikTok Transition Troubles Vex the Ellison Media Empire", Richard Stallman Quoted on Copyrights
Links for the day
Steven Field (Red Hat) Speaks of "Recent Layoff" (RA/Wave) in Red Hat
IBM really doesn't like it when people talk about "RAs"
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part XIII - Is EPO Vice-President Steve Rowan in Cahoots With the "Alicante Mafia"?
that deserves much media attention, political intervention, and condemnation
A Week Ago We Contacted the EPO's Stephen (Steve) Rowan About Cocainegate
Tomorrow we'll write some more about Rowan
“Wikilaundering” Explained
"London PR firm rewrites Wikipedia for governments and billionaires"
IBM Reports 'Results' Tomorrow, Expect More "RAs" (Mass Layoffs)
they use words like "efficiency", "optimisation", "AI", "pivot", "modernisation" and so on
Earlier This Month Microsoft Lunduke Said in Public It Was Good That Renee Good Was Murdered, Now He Mocks or Demonises People for Saying the US is Unsafe
Don't be easily conned by demagogues
Google News and "Linux" Slop
Why won't Google be interested in tackling this issue? Instead Google has been trying to participate in this issue.
IBM Kills Red Hat in the Darkness
What IBM does to Red Hat is malicious
IBM Red Hat's Goal Is Not Real Security (It Probably Never Was)
Spies and trolls are very malicious people and sometimes they're the same thing
With Absurd Lies About Slop, Which Lacks Intelligence or Financial Potential, GAFAM and IBM Will Twist Mass Layoffs as 'Efficiency Drive' or 'AI Pivot'
More layoffs are on the way
Animal Advocacy Works
All it takes is effort and determination
EPO Strike This Week
What has happened to Europe?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 26, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 26, 2026