Since nobody else is asking, I will. What do you guys think of Novells release of SuSE Linux 9.1, complete with customer indemnification against SCO litigation? I must admit that I''m impressed. They join HP as only the second company with such a guarantee, and IBM''s $1M legal fund adds to the collective confidence for would-be purchasers/licensees. Your thoughts?

What do I think? I think it is a good decision on behalf of Novell. Ever since networking was added to Windows, their NetWare platform has not been steady. I guess if they want to start with another operating system, Linux is the obvious choice. Since it is retail, they it should prove the same business model as Linux did for Red Hat -- lots of revenue coming in from support.

Looking at different news articles, Novell is fancying that one of the major features of its Linux distribution is that you can boot it from CD without installing it... but why would I pay thirty dollars when I can get Knopix? The support? But cant I just get a Red Hat Fedora and get the same/better support?

Anyway, I haven''t been very up to date about all of the hubbub, so please don’t flame me about my misunderstandings.

Well, NetWare has more or less died.

Back to the point, Novell is clearly putting serious time and money into Linux. They also believe that SCO has bought their IP and then tried to abuse it, and they''re really pissed off about it.

I''m surprised that Red Hat and IBM didn''t add customer indemnification though...did they?

quote: Original post by Promit
Well, NetWare has more or less died.

undeservingly. and recent events suggest it was only mortally wounded, not dead. we shall see if it revives.

Personally, I see a great opportunity with a linux netware.

Schools use netware like mad here in the US. Every school (non-university) I''ve ever been in used netware, except one, which had only jsut started its technology program, and was seeking advice from other schools, so it probably uses netware now, too.

Linux _should_ also appeal to schools. ESPECIALLY for technology classes. Buying one single product that gets you everything you need to run a Computer Science class, instead of several products, is an attractive offer. (windows, codewarrior, VB, and a few other tools were used in the highschool class back when I took it)

with a linux netware, I really expect to see linux labs popping up in schools like mad, since those machines can be intergrated with the rest of the network seamlessly.

Novell''s not dead, they just don''t have 99% of the market share any more.

Lack of linux-savy instructors & administrators for K-12 is probably a big hurdle. I mean com''on, remember your Windows/PC classes?

Hum, maybe there''s a ripe untapped market here.