suse

Some reflections on Linux and its community

Over the past weekend, I spent most of my time playing around with OpenSUSE and Ubuntu in an attempt to reintroduce myself into the wide world of Linux.

And while I could have been a bit happier with the support and Linux does take some getting used to after immersing yourself in a Mac and Windows world every day, it's still an ideal platform for the advanced techie who doesn't want to waste his time with things that "just work."

And although this community has built itself up to rival even the most fanatic of Apple zealots, its strength is not shown by calling in reinforcements when it's beaten up in a column, but by the immense support you receive when you run into any problem on the platform.

Simply put, Linux has some issues that shouldn't be overlooked. But with such a vast community at your disposal, now is a great time to get in on the Linux game.… Read more

Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu in 2008

SearchEnterpriseLinux.com has a good analysis of what 2008 could have in store for the three leading Linux distributions: Red Hat, Novell's SUSE, and Canonical's Ubuntu. Red Hat needs to regain its Fedora passion, according to the article, while Ubuntu needs to learn to channel its Mac-like following into cash. Novell? Novell needs to learn how to market:

The reason that Novell barely gets credit for its work is that its marketing team never leads with anything remotely innovative. If they played it any safer they'd be asleep!...

In the next 52 weeks Novell needs to do … Read more

SAP prefers SUSE

Life has been better for Red Hat. First there was Oracle pitching customers on its own fork of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and now SAP is recommending Novell's SUSE Linux as its preferred platform.

SAP is recommending SUSE as its preferred Linux platform, the stuff of which stacks are made, and Novell is going start being the first line of defense for people running SAP applications on SUSE....

Novell is supposed to handle both the apps and the operating system under a maintenance-and-support arrangement with SAP styled SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Priority Support.… Read more

Novell reports a loss, but Linux revenue up 69%

There are positives and negatives to take away from Novell's earnings call. On the negative side, the company's restructuring costs may jump as high as $70 million, up from the $25 to $35 million the company had originally suggested. Also, Novell reported a net loss in the quarter of $17.9 million, or 5 cents a share, versus a year-ago profit of $21.2 million, or 5 cents a share.

That's the bad news.

But on the positive side revenue increased roughly 5% to $244.9 million, up from analyst expectations of revenue of $242.2 million. More importantly, Linux revenue was up 69% (both for the quarter and for the year), to $22 million in the quarter and $77 million for the year. That's nothing to cry about.

Novell is making more money on a stronger revenue mix, in other words, but needs to control costs. Costs are manageable - it's growth that has been hard for the company. So seeing positive signs there means the company is turning itself around, albeit slowly.… Read more

Novell scores Office Depot for Linux...but Dwight Schrute is not impressed

In a major coup for Linux and for Novell, Office Depot has decided to consolidate its wide-ranging server architecture on Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10. Office Depot is the second-largest office supplies retailer in the US (right behind Dunder Mifflin).

While this won't make Dwight happy (word on the street is that he's taken out a contract on Justin Steinman and is currently stalking Novell's Waltham headquarters looking for "weak defenses"), it's a solid demonstration of Linux's continued strength.

Well done, Novell. This is the kind of news I look forward … Read more

Are all Linux distributions created equally?

Brian Proffitt notes something on Linux Today that won't please many in Raleigh or Redmond, but which is arguably true: Linux is Linux is Linux. There really isn't much inherent in a base Linux distribution to distinguish it from its neighbors.

I think the distributions are becoming so similar in their construction, and the differences between them so subtle, the whole notion of distribution superiority is completely moot.

Ian Murdock, founder of Debian, has been saying the same thing for years.

Lately, Microsoft and Novell have tried to suggest that Suse Linux is very different from Red Hat (in terms of interoperability with Microsoft), while Oracle has been saying the exact inverse for its Unbreakable Linux (100 percent compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux).

They're both right. It's just a question of degree.… Read more

The source(s) from which all Linux distributions spring: Debian, Slackware, and Red Hat

I came across this Linux distribution timeline today and found it fascinating. Truly a picture is worth a thousand words or, in the case of Linux, a thousand (thereabouts :-) Linux distributions. Looking at the graphic, it's clear that the many Linux distributions essentially come down to three primary springs:

Debian, Slackware, and Red Hat.

Virtually every other Linux distribution branches out from these three "trunks." I'm not sure if this indicates the inherent quality of these distributions, or if it has more to do with the vagaries of history, but it's interesting to me … Read more

Novell lays off AppArmor programmers

Two years after acquiring the company that developed the AppArmor security software for Linux, Novell has laid off team members behind the project, CNET News.com has learned.

AppArmor's founder and leader, Crispin Cowan, joined Novell in 2005 when it acquired his company, Immunix, which developed the software. But he and four others from the project lost their Novell jobs in Portland, Ore., on September 28, Cowan confirmed.

However, he plans to continue AppArmor development. He and two other laid-off AppArmor programmers, Steve Beattie and Dominic Reynolds, launched an AppArmor consulting company on Wednesday called Mercenary Linux.

"I … Read more

Novell dishes up OpenSuse 10.3

Novell released OpenSuse 10.3 Thursday, its latest free version of the open-source operating system.

For those who need a refresher, OpenSuse is the faster-moving but mostly unsupported version of Linux from Novell and various outside contributors. It competes most directly with Linux versions such as Canonical's Ubuntu and Red Hat's Fedora. Novell has tried for years to pit it against Windows as well, even as it cooperates with Microsoft in a legally thorny partnership. Novell's supported product, Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server, is sold in the form of an annual support subscription.

Like most versions … Read more