I was thinking somewhat along the same line. Especially with all the work Novell does with gnome, oO, and other projects. I seriously doubt that everything just comes from their Enterprise Versions and people working on those. If you look closely at the SLE products (11) no more than a frozen clone of opensuse 11. Although I don’t care for their SLE stuff, opensuse on the other hand is a nice solid disto, imho 100% better than the Enterprise **** they sell and support.
Hi
SLE 11 is based around 11.1 with SP1 being released next month with the
2.6.32 kernel, Gnome 2.28 it will be somewhere between 11.2 and 11.3
this it to come into alignment with the other distros [LTS types] with
the .32 kernel offering the support for the i(n) type processors.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.45-0.1-default
up 7 days 3:59, 3 users, load average: 0.53, 0.41, 0.42
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - CUDA Driver Version: 195.36.15
I know, I have a big customer running some sle stuff and it sucks imho, their support is aweful. Novell decided to go with 2.6.33 on sp1 asfaik (different from RHEL) and plus some other oddities, changing the kernel during mid release. Who knows what problems will arrive when it comes with compatibility with other Hardware Vendors emc, hp, fj, etc come to mind. Especially in HA environments. I am glad I am not a day to day admin, not my problem. 
Jim Henderson wrote:
> Unlikely that anything would happen to openSUSE, since the project is
> separate from Novell.
from whose pocket comes the change needed to (for example):
purchase/provide the forum hardware/software/management (Kim’s part)
purchase/renew/host the domain opensuse.org
operate the ‘magic’ known as software.opensuse.org
[not to mention all the coding done by folks on Novell payroll, as
already mentioned by ‘Heremod’]
or, are all of those covered by (for example) retail sales of boxed
software/T-Shirts/etc ?
–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
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Heremod wrote:
> malcolmlewis;2168377 Wrote:
>> Hi
>> SLE 11 is based around 11.1 with SP1 being released next month with the
>> 2.6.32 kernel, Gnome 2.28 it will be somewhere between 11.2 and 11.3
>> this it to come into alignment with the other distros [LTS types] with
>> the .32 kernel offering the support for the i(n) type processors.
>>
> I know, I have a big customer running some sle stuff and it sucks
> imho, their support is aweful. Novell decided to go with 2.6.33 on sp1
> asfaik (different from RHEL) and plus some other oddities, changing the
> kernel during mid release. Who knows what problems will arrive when it
> comes with compatibility with other Hardware Vendors emc, hp, fj, etc
> come to mind. Especially in HA environments. I am glad I am not a day to
> day admin, not my problem. 
Do you work for Red Hat? Pretty much all of what you said is wrong or a
lie. I’m all for being opinionated, but don’t lie.
SLES 11 SP1 is based off the long term support kernel… JUST like what Red Hat
will be using. And it’s RHEL and NOT SLES that traditionally makes version,
feature and STRATEGIC changes WITHIN a release (e.g. ADDING Xen in mid release,
then DROPPING Xen… the drop actually comes as they move to RHEL 6).
Service is awful? Really? I’ve worked contract wise for MANY Red Hat shops
where Red Hat’s answer to an issue was for the customer to UPGRADE to their
latest release rather than to fix the issue in the SUPPORTED and PAID for (and
they we’re paying for premium support) version they were running.
Why can Red Hat simply drop Xen? Perhaps because none of the customers were
using it? I’m not saying I’m pro-Xen… just pointing out that Red Hat’s knee
jerk reaction to adding Xen was strictly because Novell added it AND Novell
customers were interested in it and using it. So Red Hat created a reactionary
release to cover (which they have done in the past due to what Novell was doing
btw… if you remember the RHEL 3 debacle).
So… the future belongs to KVM. Obviously, that’s what Red Hat is telling
everyone. But did you know that the Qumranet software they acquired is based
off a strange non-standard protocol and requires Windows 2003 (specially
configured with .Net and PowerShell) to OPERATE. Yes… you can’t even get to
square one without it. Do you know that Red Hat simply displaced the vanilla
kernel inside of it? The rest of it is is VERY NON-Red Hat today… yet they
are SELLING it (requires a SEPARATE subscription… yes… a SEPARATE
subscription!!!). Updates to RHEV-H are done by ISO ONLY… this is because it
has NOT been incorporated into Red Hat’s update mechanisms. The problem is that
making modifications, especially to drivers for newer hardware requires somebody
that can unroll the RHEV process and hack in the mods. It’s not quite as easy
as it sounds.
Meanwhile, SLES 11 ships with KVM as most people know it (a maturing system).
In all fairness, the less than supported KVM in RHEL is also a common KVM.
Obviously Novell is not dropping Xen for now… though it is possible that it
might happen when KVM is ready. Novell isn’t standing still and is working on
enhancements to KVM including sponsoring the Alacrity-VM project which seeks to
displace virt-io.
So today:
SLES is #1 with regards to DEPLOYED virtualization customers.
SLES was the first to offer this.
SLES was the first to offer enterprise level filesystem features.
SLES was the first to offer HA.
SLES is #1 on the mainframe.
Look… I’m not saying that Red Hat doesn’t do anything, it is very true that
they fund and sponsor the lion share of single corporate sponsored work that
goes into the kernel. Very true. But Red Hat is also fairly naive when it
comes to commercial systems… they tend to take the all or nothing approach
which simply HAS NOT WORKED (not sure why they’re still stuck on that)
throughout the years.
I think the pace in which their projects, at least the already community run, may slow down and in the beginning it will be the worst as people try to restructure, figure out what’s going on, get funding, line up web hosts, etc.
So openSUSE development may slow down but providing it survives the upheaval it should run fine as a community-driven distribution. Look at Debian and Mint and the mass of un-commercially-supported ones. OpenSUSE has the advantage of staring off higher than those before going into a free-fall.
I would suggest that the openSUSE leaders start getting a “what if” plan going on what the “new SUSE” would look like so that if the kill switch happens they can try and recover from the freefall before loosing too much ground.
It might even mean SUSE returns to KDE-only roots, as the Gnome side seems to smack of a lot of Novell-influence, for better or worse.
What may be interesting is what happens to the Mono group. I know a lot of people would cheer the neutering of this project but then it will require distributions that include it in their version (like, oh… say, Ubuntu?) to revamp their linup or take up development themselves.
At least this is actually less destructive now that non-Mono version of software is growing popular or at least more polished (Rythmbox for Banshee, Shotwell for F-Spot, gNotes for Tomboy, etc.)
On Mon, 24 May 2010 08:29:55 +0000, DenverD wrote:
> from whose pocket comes the change needed to
A company that is bought/sold doesn’t vanish overnight, and the stated
intention (from the news releases) is that the products would continue if
the company were sold.
But IMHO (and speaking for myself only), I think this is more of a CYA
move than anything, to insure against a shareholder lawsuit if they
didn’t look into it after the whole Elliot thing.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Jim Henderson wrote:
> I think this is more of a CYA move than anything, to insure against
> a shareholder lawsuit
ah! you know, i think you are probably right…
do you know what they call 200 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
“a good start”]
–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
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CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio
On Mon, 24 May 2010 15:45:37 +0000, DenverD wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> I think this is more of a CYA move than anything, to insure against a
>> shareholder lawsuit
>
> ah! you know, i think you are probably right…
I’ve been through a few M&A myself (always as low man on the totem
pole, but you pick things up).
> do you know what they call 200 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? “a
> good start”]
LOL!
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
lol!I would call it “shark-infested waters”, but I had already heard that version you quoted - one of the better lawyer jokes.
Any updates?
Novell best provide information on this, and their stance, often. This ambiguity is only going to benefit the competition which weakens their chance of weathering the storm intact.
Sun should know about that, there was a lot of uncertainty when Oracle bought them and the competition took full advantage of it.
On Wed, 26 May 2010 13:36:01 +0000, dragonbite wrote:
> Any updates?
Nope. Generally stuff like this happens behind closed doors. Nothing to
do but wait.
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
By Novell’s Buyout Valuation Looks Promising, it is estimated that Novell’s Linux offerings were up 20%?!
I’m still thinking openSUSE better be prepping themselves for breaking off from the mothership just in case.
“Plan for worst, hope for the best, and get something in-between”
Indeed !!
Given this is a public company, for anyone “in the know” to even leak a hint, could mean they could be locked up in prison for years or as a minimum given a MASSIVE fine.
On Tue, 2010-06-01 at 17:26 +0000, oldcpu wrote:
> hendersj;2169720 Wrote:
> > Nope. Generally stuff like this happens behind closed doors. Nothing
> > to do but wait.Indeed !!
>
> Given this is a public company, for anyone “in the know” to even leak a
> hint, could mean they could be locked up in prison for years or as a
> minimum given a MASSIVE fine.
>
>
I would say for every ONE of these that get caught about a THOUSAND
get away with it. Point taken. I for one would LOVE to see those “in
the know” get caught more often for taking advantage of things at
shareholder expense.
Something inside of me says that Novell isn’t on anyone’s radar
screen… so insiders… feel free to share
On Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:26:01 +0000, oldcpu wrote:
> hendersj;2169720 Wrote:
>> Nope. Generally stuff like this happens behind closed doors. Nothing
>> to do but wait.Indeed !!
>
> Given this is a public company, for anyone “in the know” to even leak a
> hint, could mean they could be locked up in prison for years or as a
> minimum given a MASSIVE fine.
Yep. Which is why I’ve only talked in generalities about M&A experiences
I’ve had in the past. I know absolutely nothing about the actual
negotiations, but as an employee, we’ve all been told we have nothing to
say.
So I have nothing to say about this specific story.
Jim
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
aparently I posted in one of the inactive threads on this: how would you feel about google buying novell?
That would be interesting. I have a suspicion of Google, but they are Linux’s main broker now. I don’t know that they’d be interested in expanding into the market, but they seem to be reaching every place else now and it wouldn’t be inconceivable.
Don’t know if Novell has anything Google wants.
Linux OS? They have Android which is doing alright, plus I think Google is closer to Canonical/Ubuntu.
Mono? The Android and such are more Python and Java based. Not to mention, I don’t think they’d be too keen to bring the enemy’s language into the henhouse.