Novell deals amuse

While writing the previous newsletter about memory fragmentation, NetWare 6.5 and Novell’s Technical Information Document 10091980, I wanted to check the dates and contents of Service Pack 2 for NetWare 6.5. I went to Novell’s Web site and clicked on “download” on the gray banner at the top of the page.

This took me to the Novell Product Downloads page where I chose to “search for a product download.” I clicked the radio button to “search by product” then selected “NetWare” in both the Product and Platform dropdown menus. There were two offerings listed for download: the 90-day evaluation copy of NetWare 6.5, and the 30-day evaluation version of “SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9”! Is Novell still trying to say it won’t abandon NetWare?

Last month (https://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/netware/2004/0823nw2.html), in talking about Novell’s latest financial report, I lamented that license sales were down which would indicate that NetWare sales were off. But, as more than one reader reminded me, it isn’t the same old NetWare.

Since NetWare 6.x doesn’t require that you buy a separate license for each server, and since the typical NetWare network has more than one server, the number of licenses needed to run a NetWare 6.x installation is significantly fewer than you would need for a NetWare 5.x (or earlier) installation. Maybe only a third to a quarter of the licenses that were needed a few years ago. That does change the equation significantly, but I’m afraid that the writing on the wall hasn’t really changed and the number of NetWare servers and licenses will continue to drop without cease. Maybe you should grab that 30-day eval of SuSE before the upgrade protection deal expires.

And speaking of expiring deals, I wrote in Network World (“Novell shoots blanks on Linux offer” https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2004/082304kearns.html) that Novell seemed to be scamming people with an offer for free copies of Linux-based products that didn’t seem to get shipped and then closed the offer when more people discovered it. Novell then reopened the offer and shipped the previously ordered merchandise, which I dutifully told you about in this newsletter (“Novell’s Linux promotion comes through” https://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/netware/2004/0830nw2.html). So, of course, just as that newsletter hit your inbox Novell closed the offer again. As the old saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you!  See you next time.