Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part III: SCO, PlateSpin Forge, Teaming, GroupWise, and More

View with a rock



Summary: The remainder of this week's news about Novell

There is almost nothing to see here but a few minor items.



Legal



The SCO saga was last mentioned in:

  1. A Look at the Microsoft-funded SCO Lawsuit in Light of Newer Anti-Linux Microsoft Lawsuits
  2. Novell Responds to SCO Ruling, More News Coverage
  3. More SCO Headlines and What Comes Next
  4. More SCO Headlines and What Comes Next


Nothing particularly exciting has happened since then, but ZDNet has some more coverage and Groklaw got a hold of another IBM letter. It seems likely that SCO is stuck in the middle of nowhere and will disappear real soon now. We've heard it all before, haven't we?

Netware



NetWare was mentioned very briefly in this article.

Other network operating systems, such as Novell Netware, have had access enumeration features for many releases, leaving one to wonder why Microsoft has waited so long to introduce it. The argument is that the feature isn't needed if properly configured permissions on objects are already in place, but that doesn't necessarily cover all the reasons one might want to hide the names of certain folders.


Another small history lesson:

And yet, that almost never happens. History says Google will struggle as technology shifts. But good luck figuring out what company might catch the next wave and give Google fits. In 1995, Gates worried about existing companies such as Novell and the start-up Netscape Communications. Neither wound up a serious rival. Google was three years from being born. Fear what you can’t see, not what you can.


Virtualisation



Ross Chevalier wrote about the subject while Novell's PR people were beating the Xen drum and IDG wrote about where Novell fits in the SpringSource takeover by VMware.

And as Microsoft, Red Hat and Novell move more into the virtualisation and application server markets where does that leave VMware? Well, now VMware has a competing offering.


Todd Weiss, who used to write for IDG, warns that VMware's state is similar to Novell's. It's a familiar analogy.

Some on Wall Street say the company's stock is overvalued. And a leading IT analyst thinks VMware could be headed for a Novell-like downfall.


Trading Markets repeated some of the expected buzz about PlateSpin Forge:

Novell today announced the availability of PlateSpin Forge 2.5, the latest release of the only all-in-one, out-of-the-box disaster recovery hardware appliance. PlateSpin Forge leverages virtualization to back-up and restore physical and virtual servers. In the event of production server downtime or a disaster, protected workloads can be rapidly recovered, including failover directly on the PlateSpin Forge appliance, so there is no need for additional hardware. The protected workloads can later be restored to the production environment, either to the repaired server, or even to a replacement server of a different make or model.


Also on PlateSpin Forge, from the same source:

Version 2.5 features an improved block-based transfer protocol, making replications up to 50 % faster than previous versions. In contrast to traditional file-based transfers that copy entire files, block-based transfer technology replicates only changed blocks at the disk level, dramatically reducing the amount of data transferred, according to the company.


Novell is attributed for sort of pioneering the division of labour among nodes in another article about sharing a CPU (virtualisation).

With the PC, the balance changed: although software became a commodity, every PC needed some. A single central computer that hosted the operating system, applications and data became an expensive and outmoded idea. Novell sold us the idea of networking PCs and Microsoft jumped on the bandwagon with Windows 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups.


Mail/Collaboration



A new press release (also found here) speaks about Novell Teaming as a "leader".

Novell Teaming was evaluated in several categories including security, team collaboration platform, and architecture and administration. The report also notes that, "Novell's acquisition of SiteScape and rebranding as Novell Teaming has placed it in a solid position as a collaborative platform vendor." A member of Novell's suite of Collaboration products, Novell Teaming is a next-generation collaborative application that brings people, projects and processes together in a workspace that boosts efficiency and fosters innovation.


Novell has also just released (or merely uploaded) two videos that promote Novell Teaming. Here is the first:



And the second video:



When it comes to GroupWise, attempts are still being made to reverse a decision in Los Angeles (more here). We wrote about this at the beginning of the month.

Some 15 bids were submitted to Los Angeles to replace its e-mail system. Those not selected appear to be unhappy at the prospect of losing millions of dollars in business to Google. In a July 20 letter, Novell client executive Brian Hervey said that his company wants to continue providing e-mail service to the city and offered a 10% discount on the annual maintenance fee.


IDG spreads more fear of Fog Computing and adds:

Shortly after the breach, some public interest groups and local law enforcement officials cited potential security concerns in calling on the city of Los Angeles to reconsider plans to replace its Novell GroupWise e-mail and Microsoft Office software with Google Inc.'s hosted e-mail and office productivity applications.


GroupWise support in BlackBerries is still being noted.

Management/Monitoring



BMC has bought a company in a move that may affect Novell because it entered this field in a similar fashion (an acquisition).

BMC competes with Novell, CA, IBM and a range of smaller vendors in the market for BSM (business service management) software, which is meant to help companies manage their IT infrastructure effectively and align it in support of business processes.


More here:

BMC on Monday said it has bought MQSoftware, maker of middleware that helps companies monitor the performance of IBM's WebSphere MQ as well as other platforms. Terms were not disclosed. BMC competes with Novell, CA, IBM and a range of smaller vendors in the market for business service management software, which is meant to help companies manage their IT infrastructure and align it with business processes. By purchasing MQSoftware, BMC wants a stronger play in companies that are working on SOA projects. WebSphere MQ is a messaging platform that allows various applications and systems to communicate with each other. It can play a key role in SOA implementations, which seek to create composite applications consisting of multiple, sometimes shared sources.


Security



When it comes to security, Novell's PR people have been very busy recently. A ZDNet placement from last week is promoted by Novell's marketing people now that it's 'sunk' in there. Novell is also mentioned in the following article which requires registration to read and there's this IDG article about Sentinel (in Swedish).

People



Former Novell managers are seen making their move, the latest examples being:

i . US Venture Partners takes on Gary Gysin as entrepreneur-in-residence

Before joining McData, Gyson was the senior vice president of products at Volera, a majority owned subsidiary of Novell. Prior to Volera, he held a variety of executive leadership roles including president and CEO of PGSoft, leading the company through five successful years culminating in the company’s sale to Novell. He was also vice president of sales and marketing at Crosswise Corporation, WorldTalk and Touch Communications.


ii. Revell leaves Zintel after six-month absence

Revell is a longtime figure in the New Zealand IT industry, having been general manager for Novell until 2003, held the role of services director at Computerland and solutions delivery manager at Gen-i, before becoming Zintel's managing director in 2006.


Partners



The little event which took place earlier this month (Burton) had Novell demonstrate identity management. This is mentioned by IDG.

Earlier this month both CA and Novell demonstrated identity management products tweaked to be able to provide better security to both cloud- and SaaS-based applications.


Novell's relationships with companies are also mentioned briefly in here, here, here, here, and here. It's all minor and almost negligible. Novell was also brought up by this publication which is known for its Novell affinity.

Videos



There is not much to see here except Novell's marketing videos and a Moodle tutorial that involves Novell's networking software.

These are the steps to create an account in Moodle in my district which has Moodle linked with Novell via LDAP.


Utah



Transit changes in Utah have Novell's campus mentioned, but this is nothing of significance.

A BRT line between Orem and Provo has been in MAG's long-term plans for quite some time, Eccles said. The approved plans call for the bus rapid transit line to run from an intermodal center west of Utah Valley University, around BYU to downtown Provo and down to the Novell campus in south Provo.


Here ends another week with no major Novell news to report. ⬆

Recent Techrights' Posts

Intercontinental Brigading - Part VI - Racism Against Blacks
Systems don't always work as intended
Trillions of Dollars in Debt Are Not "Investment", More People Realise This Now
"Investors started offloading shares on Wednesday in response to an X post about the debt load of CoreWeave Inc..."
Intercontinental Brigading - Part V - Keeping Linux Under Users' Control, Not Microsoft's (NSA) Control, Leads to Weaponisation of Cops (Killing the Messengers)
Transatlantic lawfare
 
Gemini Links 17/10/2026: Big Glowing Advertising Screens, Busy October, and Art
Links for the day
The First Casualty: The Reputation of Linux Developers (and of Linux)
The last thing you can take from a person is pride
Links 17/10/2026: Europe Divorcing US President Putin (Kompromat), MElon and Kapo-berg ("Meta") Buying US Elections Again
Links for the day
GAFAM LLMs Seem to be Causing Veteran, Experienced Linux Developers to Quit, Only to be Replaced With GAFAM Bots and Unaudited Slopfest 'Code'
Better than 'pulling a SCO'?
30 Years of KDE and "Project Banana"
KDE recently turned 30 (many blog posts about it this past week)
Inevitable Things
"Bitbucket was Inevitable"
Andy's Passing Thoughts on Media Dying, Not Reporting News (Even Critical News About Itself)
No more news
Stallman Was Right About Torvalds
The crowd/audience Linus Torvalds panders to is paid by GAFAM to go attend and dominate (speak at) LF events. They're people whose employer forces them to use slop, it's inorganic.
Links 17/10/2026: "Why Math Dumped OpenAI", US Third Circuit Has Confirmed LLMs and Other Slop Constitute Plagiarism or Copyright Infringement
Links for the day
GPL Was Right (About Hoarding, Now Automated With Plagiarism Blenders)
Some time next year the UK's High Court might listen to arguments related to this
Microsoft Allegedly Asks Many Workers to Leave at the End of This Year (or Get the Boot), It's Called Voluntary Exit Program a.k.a. Voluntary Early Retirement Program (or VEP) Even for People Far Too Young to Retire
"Everyone at Microsoft knows what those acronyms mean."
The Torvalds-led Slopfest as a Reminder to Pursue Software Freedom, Not Plagiarism Endorsed (for Money) by 'Linux' Foundation
What's happening this month moreover proves that he is not in control of important decisions in his project
Why We Never Got Back to IPFS
Practically speaking, we could get back to IPFS any time
Red Hat Silent Layoffs: October 1 Bluewashing, Then Leaving IBM Altogether
It's said that weeks from now there will be another "round" (of "RAs")
Gemini Links 16/10/2026: Metrovision, Smartwatches, and Rekindled Love for Geminispace
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 16, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 16, 2026
TeamBlind Accused of Censorship, Maybe Surveillance in the Future
It's expensive to protect whistleblowers and to resist censorship of what whistleblowers try to expose
Another Friday 'Litter' of IBM Workers, Discarded and Sometimes Replaced to Cut Costs
The little that IBM earns is spent buying companies to pretend there's "growth" and headcount stability
Gemini Links 16/10/2026: Carrie, Games, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 16/10/2026: Election Interference by Slop; White House Backs Russia, Not Ukraine
Links for the day
The Register MS Has New 'Article' That Has "AI" 20 Times. "SPONSORED POST" As Usual.
At the end, both the media and the pyramid scheme will collapse
UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Says Microsoft is Still Abusive
Today, ahead of the latest fake 'results' [...] Microsoft cheats the system everywhere it can
Links 16/10/2026: "Data Centers Are Driving Conservative Rural Voters to The Democratic Party En Masse" and Slop Bros Bribe Candidates "for Congress"
Links for the day
Deplatforming People You Disagree With Is a Losing Strategy
Trying to deplatform people you don't agree with is oppressive and petty
Microsoft Cannot Pay Salaries
Microsoft is deep in debt
IBM "support that is USA based will migrate over 4 years to Indian based just because it lowers costs substantially."
IBM is not capable of growing, so it tries to find ways to shave off costs
Gemini Links 16/10/2026: Publishing and Licensing, Going to Movies, and Nature/Seasons Change
Links for the day
Microsoft's OSI Calling Slop "Open Source AI" (Microsoft Paid OSI to Do This) Has Helped Associate "Open Source" With Pedophilia
Microsoft deflecting?
Fridges Do Not Need an Internet Connection
Keep it simple, stupid (KISS)
Wikileaks Still Matters
The world needs more sites like these
'Cocaine King' Campinos Should 'Get the Message', Pack Up His Things and Go Already
His staff is constantly on strike and engaged in various industrial actions
We Don't Do Slop
People tend to appreciate genuine work, not fakes
On Lying With Confidence
LLMs are hype
Market Share of Windows in the United Kingdom is Shockingly Low
Microsoft's losses are very profound
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 15, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 15, 2026
Microsoft Can Barely Afford to Colonise Africa Any Longer (Too Much Debt)
"Before the announcement, former Microsoft employees publicly described staff being placed on performance improvement plans or offered “voluntary” exits."
Intercontinental Brigading - Part IV - Harassment Registered With the Police Before Projection Attempts Made From America
The thing one gets subjected to for opposing back doors in Linux
Gemini Links 16/10/2026: Dogs, Slop, and Blogging
Links for the day
The Fate of "Alicante Mafia" at the EPO Yet to Be Determined
It'll be interesting to hear what they say about the secret meeting regarding the future of Campinos
Gemini Links 15/10/2026: Medical Difficulty, Science Fiction, and Playstation 3 Dies
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2026: Cuts to Public Health and Misuse of License Plate Data for Social Control
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2026: ALPRs Are Mass Surveillance, GAFAM Front Group ('New' EFF) Asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to End Warrantless ALPR Searches
Links for the day
IBM RAs: "It's on Me"
IBM has no respect for the workers and it tries to hide the layoffs
Gemini Links 15/10/2026: Literature, Funerals, and Devices
Links for the day
The Efforts to Criminalise Opposition to a Ponzi Scheme Sold as "Super Intelligence" (Plagiarism Engines, Disinformation Generators)
Cops are becoming combatants for slop bros, i.e. they use power to promote a Ponzi scheme
Clownflare Sees Most Requests in Africa Coming From Android (Linux)
Android is the dominant platform
IBM's "RA Season" is Nearly Upon Us, But Tens of Thousands Are Already Marked for Removal With PIPs (as "Low Performers")
IBM is a dying company
Microsoft Has Confirmed It Had a Plan to Cut Azure (or Azure Costs) by 20%
So basically... yes! Microsoft did have a plan to slash Azure.
No Noticeable Libera Chat Exodus After Code of Censorship (CoC) Scandal Earlier This Month
Libera Chat pissed off some people by unmasking the CoC's real purpose
Red Hat Silent Layoffs Seem to Carry on Throughout This Month
How much longer will these silent layoffs (e.g. PIPs) carry on for?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 14, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 14, 2026