* Update to Novell's Linux migration project
Last week, I mentioned a report in an Australian tech magazine, which said that Novell was seriously behind in its project to roll out Linux on the desktop to 5,000 users in-house. As it turns out, the story may simply have been a case of bad timing. And possibly some miscommunication between the American CIO of Novell and the British reporter who interviewed her. It happens.
When I want the real “inside skinny” on a company’s activities I turn to a group of people that I dub, for want of a better term, “thought leaders.” These are the folks within the company who understand what the company is doing and where it fits in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes it’s someone in the executive suite; sometimes it’s someone manning the help desk. The person could be in engineering or even marketing. Some of the best are in press and public relations (but some of the worst are, also).
One PR guy who has been around long enough, has the technical savvy and knows the ins and outs is Novell’s Kevan Barney. He is, as they used to say in the Saturday matinee cowboy movies, a “tall drink o’ water.”
Barney is the living embodiment of the term “unflappable.” No matter what the situation – a new CEO, another odd acquisition, less than stellar financials, etc. – Barney almost always has the answers I need to understand what’s happening in both Provo and Waltham. And when he doesn’t have the answer immediately, he tirelessly tracks it down for me. He’s more of a Barney the dinosaur (but not as purple) and not at all like Barney Rubble. I really should have asked him about the Linux desktop project. But, with one thing and another, I neglected to speak to him before going to press.
As it turns out, the numbers reported in the magazine were right (1,500 desktops migrated by the Oct. 1); it’s the target that was wrong. Novell’s target all along has been 2,500 desktops by the END of October, not the beginning (maybe “October” means something else to the Brits and Aussies. After all, in the Roman calendar it was the eighth month). Barney assures me that as of right now, more than 2,000 desktops have been migrated and there’s a chance that the target of 2,500 might be exceeded by the end of the month.
Glad we could clear that up.
He was also full of assurances about the future of NetWare and Open Enterprise Server (OES). A number of you have asked about OES and its file system – would the superior Novell file system be available on the Linux kernel? Barney was adamant that Novell Storage Services (NSS) would be shipped in the initial offering of OES and would run on the Linux kernel. More than anything else, it seems, Novell’s file system with its rich panoply of file and folder rights is the one thing that might hold back a migration for current NetWare shops. But if NSS will run on Linux, then anyone even considering moving from NetWare to Windows is making a big mistake. That’s me speaking, not Barney, but I’ll bet he agrees with me.
