Bonum Certa Men Certa

BrainShare 2010

Summary: Coverage of key items from the past week's Novell event in Salt Lake City



BrainShare has just ended and it was a lot quieter than we had expected. It was nothing like BrainShare 2008 as there were not as many announcements, but here we go:

After a one-year absence caused by the recession, Novell Inc. has brought back its BrainShare conference in Salt Lake City.


More here:

"We have an economic impact we're projecting at eight to nine million dollars for the tournament, so, this weekend, downtown will be abuzz," said Shawn Stinson of the Salt Lake City Visitors and Convention Bureau. "We've got ... the [NCAA games] as well as the Novell conference going on right now."


Here is what Novell's CMO John Dragoon had to say about BrainShare when it started (he also wrote about the ending).

Today is a great day! One of the highlights of the year for Novell’s 3,600 employees starts today and goes through this Thursday – Novell’s BrainShare Conference.


Novell's marketing people wrote about day 1 and there were also many marketing videos, such as:

Keynote Opening Video Day 1



Keynote Opening Video Day 2



Additionally we found:

Storyboard Demo Intros Day 1



Storyboard Demo Intros Day 2



Here is the ASG Brainshare introduction.



On around the very same day Novell jumped because of expectations that it will be sold.



Ron Hovsepian got interviewed and he didn't say anything out of line.



From the same series we have this video.



For entertainment purposes, Novell also invited some rock musicians whose performance was captured in video [1, 2, 3, 4].

Textual coverage from this event mostly came from the VAR Guy, who prior to the event wrote down "5 Questions for Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian".

1. Other Deals Coming?: Novell’s board rejected Elliott Associates’ unsolicited $2 billion bid for the company on March 20. Novell’s board said it would seek to increase shareholder value in other ways — potentially through share buybacks, strategic relationships or perhaps even the sale of the company. So, um: Does Novell expect Elliott Associates to raise its bid for the company? Or might somebody else step forward in a potential deal?

[...]

3. SUSE Linux Appliances: Nearly a dozen ISVs — from Ingres to Groundwork Open Source — are touting Novell’s SUSE Linux Appliance and SUSE Studio strategy at BrainShare. That’s a promising start. But are channel partners really deploying the appliances from customers, and profiting from them?

On a somewhat related note, Novell in recent years has used third-party research to suggest SUSE Linux is maintaining or taking market share from Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Novell’s claims adjust from quarter to quarter. But The VAR Guy would like to know: Does Novell still think it’s taking Linux market share from key rivals?


More from the VAR Guy about SUSE appliances:

As The VAR Guy suspected: Nearly a dozen software partners are set to rally around Novell’s SUSE Linux Appliance strategy at BrainShare, a customer and partner conference held this week in Utah. Here’s a look at the SUSE Linux partners — from Black Diamond to Zmanda — and the implications for Novell’s channel partners. Plus, a look at potential software appliance partners Novell still needs to recruit.


Regarding Novell's proprietary side, the VAR Guy wrote a series of posts in another site of his [1, 2, 3].

More than 2,500 customers and partners are attending this week’s Novell BrainShare conference, but most of the attending partners are VARs rather than MSPs.


 

I suspect a good portion of MSPmentor’s readers built and supported Novell NetWare networks back in the 1990s. Fast forward to the present, and Novell BrainShare starts today in Salt Lake City, Utah. Bloggers from our sister site, The VAR Guy, are at the conference, covering Novell’s channel strategy for integrators and VARs. But back here on MSPmentor I have to wonder: How many MSPs really care about Novell these days?


At the event, Novell made an announcement about ZENworks [1, 2] and another press release talks about mail archiving, even Web conferencing with Dimdim [1, 2]. It's not clear why Dimdim needs a relationship with Novell.

So in summary, not much has happened in BrainShare 2010. Novell just spent a lot of money gathering people. It's probably the last BrainShare ever because Novell is up for sale.

Recent Techrights' Posts

WebProNews is a Slopfarm
Please avoid linking to WebProNews
Another "Told You So!": XBox Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Many Recent Reports Were Chaff and Spin), Many Other Divisions Affected
With mass layoffs at Microsoft the world would be much better
When the Microsoft Aggressors Rely on Several Law Firms ('Attack Dogs', 'Guns for Hire'), Not Just One, Lawyering Up Against Techrights (Acting on Behalf of Americans Against UK Publishers)
From serving customers at some restaurant he has moved on to bullying people with demand letters
Polygamy, from Catholic Synod on Synodality to Social Control Media & Debian CyberPolygamy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Only a Third of or 1 in 3 Web-Connected Devices is a Desktop or Laptop, According to statCounter
we can expect Android to widen its lead
 
Moral Duty for "Linux Sites" to Speak Out Against LLM Slop
My wife has long complained about "Linux bloggers" keeping quiet and thus passive about a growing problem: slop
In Recent Hours Google News Promoted at Least 3 Slopfarms That Relayed Linux Foundation Propaganda Made by Bots or LLM "Bullshit Generators" (as Dr. Stallman Dubbed Them)
Google is circling down the drain and Google News too is hopeless
Linux Journal is a Slopfarm, It's Experimenting With LLM 'Authors'
Is Slashdot next?
Microsoft LinkedIn is Dying and Many More Layoffs Are on the Way
LinkedIn is just a failed acquisition of Microsoft. It causes losses and debt.
Gemini Links 25/06/2025: Combinatorial Music and Self Hosting
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Coming Back to Europe This Autumn to Give More Talks
His last talk in Europe attracted about 400-450 people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Social Control Media, Technology & Catholicism: Synod on Synodality review and feedback
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How Many More Women Will Managers at Microsoft Strangle and Tell to Kill Themselves (or Try to Kill)?
The world needs to know what happened
The New BetaNews: 7 New 'Articles', All of Them LLM Slop
BetaNews is basically defunct. Nobody writes there anymore.
statCounter Estimates Only 1 in 300 Iranians Would Use Microsoft for Search
Iranians don't quite trust Microsoft
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: ftpd on FreeBSD and Online Small Web Magazine
Links for the day
Google News Does Great Harm by Promoting Slopfarms as Legitimate News Sites
Slopfarms are sites which are 100% LLM slop
Links 24/06/2025: Trouble at "Open" "AI" and ‘Siarhei is Free’
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: Stimulants and Subscription Costs for DRM
Links for the day
Links 24/06/2025: OpenAI [sic] May Soon Die (Too Much Debt) and Social Control Media Accused of Being Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda Amplifier
Links for the day
Nirbheek Chauhan in Planet GNOME Explains Why Wayland Pushers Are Losing
"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
The Days Are Getting Shorter, the First Half of 2025 is Almost Over
We're gratified to see significant increase in traffic and also positive feedback on the work we do
Turning GNU/Linux Into a Political Football
X (not the site) is Free software
X Server Still Works for Many People
A lot of people will grow suspicious of Wayland boosters/pushers if they persist and insist on using these tactics
Exactly a Week Ago "BetaNews Staff" Said "Betanews Is Growing Alongside You". Since Then Every Article (All by "Camila Nogueira") Has Been LLM Slop.
BetaNews is basically a slopfarm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore