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

IBM's Kyndryl Down Almost 20% in 5 Days, IBM Down 35% in About 6 Months, Further 'Staff Reductions' at Red Hat (Problems Paying Salaries!)
Will this year's festivities be Krishna's last?
More Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Only Weeks After the "Buyout" Nonsense (Glorified Severance to Highest-Paid American Staff)
Next up it is LinkedIn
IBM Lost Nearly 33% in "Value" in 3 Months (Shares Down $100), But Nobody Held Accountable
This is a truly dysfunctional company
 
Links 13/05/2026: Sudan War Enters Fourth Year and Strait of Hormuz Leaves Safe Passage a Gamble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/05/2026: Useless Protests and Foofaraw on Geminispace
Links for the day
Mainstream Media: Microsoft Says No Layoffs. Microsoft: OK, There Are Layoffs.
Where is Waggener Edstrom/Frank Shaw now?
IBM is in a Freefall, When Will IBM's CEO Fall on His Sword?
Since he controls the Board, is anyone in a position to fire him?
At GitLab, "AI" is "All India"
It says "as much as 30%," but they also hire and it's clear what demography is targeted
Verified Accounts of Microsoft Offering 'Retirement' (Layoffs) to People in Their 40s, Over Two Decades Earlier Than Retirement Age
It's not even about performance, it's about age (or "cost" as well as location; they cheapen the labour)
Links 13/05/2026: Slop Turns Into 2008-Style Subprime Bubble, Mass Layoffs at Starbucks
Links for the day
They Don't Like the Layoffs, So They Are Rebranding Them
Layoffs are layoffs
IBM Downgraded as the Shares Sink to New Lows
The current strategy of IBM is financial engineering, wage reductions, and mass layoffs that the corporate media refuses to even write about
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Gemini Links 13/05/2026: TUIs and Internet Radio
Links for the day
How the European Patent Office Became a Crime and Corruption Hub, One of Europe's Biggest
incomplete outline
Techrights at 19.5 (We Started in 2006, Days After the Microsoft/Novell Deal)
When Novell bought Ximian (run by the "best friend" of Graveley) it brought trouble to all of us, not just to Novell
In Croatia, Microsoft Windows Share Sank From 98% to All-Time Low of 67% (or 28% If One Counts Android)
statements made last week (and last month) by Microsoft's CEO confirm that Windows is rapidly losing users
SLAPP Censorship - Part 75 Out of 200: All True, All Verifiable, Unlike Garrett and Graveley Lying to at Least Three High Court Judges About What They Did
A lot of what I said a year ago not only turned out to be correct; it was moreover affirmed by Garrett after he had sworn on the Bible and put himself at risk to his liberty
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXI - EPO President Campinos Bribing to Buy His Seat, But Cautions Staff Against Bribery
This isn't a democratic institution
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: Spring Cleaning and New GemText Software
Links for the day
Links 12/05/2026: Samsung Sued by Dua Lipa (Publicity Rights), ‘Savage Love’ Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Links for the day
IBM Falls to One-year Low
At one point or threshold does the Board (controlled by the CEO) sack the CEO?
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: On Astronomy and Stargazing, Coyote Time, and Freenom
Links for the day
Links 12/05/2026: Data Centres Destroying Neighbourhoods, "Care Workers Are Saying No to 24-Hour Workdays"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in Erlangen, Germany (Next European Tour)
Seems like a large room
Google "Hey Hi" (Slop) Having a Stroke, Thinks I am Married to the Grandmother of My Grandfather
Seriously!
If IBM Suddenly Vanished in the 1980s, There Would be Chaos. Not Anymore.
IBM's management has rendered IBM more irrelevant than ever before
Beehiiv and Substack Are Platform Lock-in (Similar to Vendor Lock-in), Don't Use Beehiiv and Substack (and the Likes of These)
Proprietary platforms are a problem. Some people "get it" sooner than others.
Gitlab is in Trouble and Its Shares Have Collapsed
Down almost 80% since it began [...] The real issue has nothing to do with slop, it is a lack/loss of customers and erosion of the company's theoretical "value"
Microsoft: Mass Layoffs Are "Offers" (Like "Job Offers"), Culling Experienced and Highly-Paid Staff is "Softer Workforce-reduction Strategy"
Media sites that play along with those lies don't do journalism, they're in the PR industry
Under IBM, Mass Layoffs at Red Hat No Better Than Oracle Under Larry Ellison (Treating Workers Like Disposables - Even Enemies - Overnight)
under IBM the respect for the worker (or peer) does not exist
The Slop-Amplified Fear of Privilege Escalation (Local, Not Remote) in Linux, the Kernel
we are meant to assume this is no better and no worse than Microsoft intentionally putting back doors in everything, even encryption
Jim Zemlin/Linux Foundation Selling Anthropic Slop After Getting Bribed for Slop Marketing ('Linux' Foundation is a Pay-to-Say For-Profit Marketing Company That Buys and Manipulates the Media Based on False Pretences)
Look what they've done to Steven Vaughan-Nichols (SJVN)
GitLab the Latest Company to Do Mass Layoffs and Use Slop as the Go-to Excuse (GitLab Users Should Worry Too)
This round of layoffs (disguised as something else) has nothing to do with slop ("hey hi"). It's about commercial problems.
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XX - EPO Management's Unified (One) Voice or Policy is, Doing Cocaine is OK When You're a Friend and/or Family of President Campinos
The management needs to resign to save the Office
Technology Not Meant to Last
A society apathetic towards declining production (or manufacturing) standards will end up ripped off
statCounter Cannot 'See' Chinese Operating Systems That Gain Many Millions of Users Per Month
There is no way for statCounter to recognise or show the market share of HarmonyOS
SLAPP Censorship - Part 74 Out of 200: The Basis of My Lawsuit Against Alex Graveley, Who Helps Garrett Stack the Docket in Another Continent
claim against the Serial Strangler from Microsoft
Update on Slop About "Linux"
"Linux" is a term many people are interested it, so it's not shocking that slopfarms target it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 11, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, May 11, 2026
GAFAM (Microsoft) "Cloud Computing" Means Another Country's Military Accesses All Your Data
reminder that confidentiality and Clown Computing are complete opposites
Another Discrimination Lawsuit Against IBM and Workers Say IBM Culls Older Workers (Just Like Microsoft)
If IBM fails to retain some of the smartest people, then what is the future of IBM?
Gemini Links 12/05/2026: Android Nostalgia and Switching to Guix
Links for the day
Links 11/05/2026: Another Oracle Setback and Mass Layoffs in Iran
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/05/2026: Older Can Be Faster and Textmode Workflow
Links for the day
Links 11/05/2026: The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Admits It Only Reacts When It's Too Late (Damage Already Done), Ombudsman’s Animal Cruelty HK Report
Links for the day
If It Takes You a Second to Serve (or Receive) a Page, That's Definitely Too Slow
For speeds at milliseconds (e.g. for pages to fully load in a tenth of a second) the pages must be ready to be sent as soon as they're requested
It's Not About Speed, It is About Patience and Adherence to Truth, Principles, Scientific Integrity
attacks on us only ever made us stronger - a lesson that our adversaries have learned the hard way
Cyber Show Does it Like Techrights: Static and Gemini Protocol as 'First-Class Citizen'
HTML and GemText (over Gemini Protocol) would be rendered in tandem
Libya's Share on the Web: 5.2% GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has hit an all-time high there
SLAPP Censorship - Part 73 Out of 200: Microsoft's Graveley and Garrett Remain Closely Connected in May 2026 ("Tag-Teaming" Against Bloggers in Another Continent)
The phrase "judge a person by their friends" seems applicable here
Codecs and Software Patents - Part VI - The European Patent Office, Nokia, Microsoft, Sisvel, and More
Whatever Nokia used to be, it's certainly not an ally and a lot of the turmoil at the EPO is the fault of companies like Nokia
Discussions About When the Axe Falls at IBM/Kyndryl (11,000 Layoffs Estimated)
"Kyndryl restructuring should reduce overhead functions and reduce the number of managers that lack technical knowledge"
A World After Microsoft (and GAFAM) and After GitHub Shuts Down
the only growth area is debt
Fake News, Propaganda, and Misinformation: Microsoft Investing Money It Does Not Have in "Hey Hi" (for "Entertainment Purposes" Only)
This will not end well
Today the Whole European Patent Office (EPO) is on Strike and Next Monday an Even Bigger Strike
the media refuses to cover these and is thus complicit
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part IXX - EPO Management Speaks of Reputation and Integrity While Putting Cocaine Addicts in Management
If the EPO values its "reputation", then it needs to start by ousting the management
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 10, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, May 10, 2026
Links 11/05/2026: Security Breaches, Politics, and Energy Crunch
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/05/2026: "Accidental Cameras" and "Addictive" Interfaces in Social Control Media
Links for the day