Novell joins government purchasing plan

Novell, which became the No. 2 seller of the Linux operating system through recent acquisitions, has joined a U.S. government purchasing program called SmartBuy, the Waltham, Mass.-based company said Thursday. The SmartBuy program consolidates federal purchasing so the government can get discounts available to large customers and eases contract negotiations.

Novell is offering several products and services through the program, including Linux for desktop PCs, low-end servers and high-end servers; server software for e-mail and calendars; and later, user authentication and identity management.