[KLUG Members] Novell and Linux

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> I've been off the list for a couple of weeks. That pesky parenting
> thing. Yeah, cloned myself again. That makes 7 little network engineers
> to raise. Sorry if this topic has been covered already, but here's my
> $.02 anyway. :)

Yes, I've made several attempts to contact someone at Novell's Detroit
office about presenting to KLUG what exactly all this means.  So far
I've gotten no responses.  If you know of somebody...

> So the question in my mind is this: if it looks like Linux, smells like
> Linux, and tastes like Linux, why wouldn't I just run Linux and avoid
> the licensing hassle? 

Comfort factor,  which may work, but I wonder for how long.  

My users, groups, mail routing, DNS, DHCP, and some other trivial things
are already in a directory - without Novell.  Add on some *REALLY* nice
front end tools (which Linux/DA still lacks) and the value proposition
of NDS starts to look pretty thin.

> My gut feeling is that the NetWare OS will be
> around but considerably less relevant. Their big push will be their
> eDirectory on Linux. Managing the information of thousands of objects
> (users, workstations, printers, volumes, filesystem ACL's, etc.) is
> pretty darned slick with their directory. Their cash lifeline will be
> their directory, not their OS. 

But can they hold off two beachheads?  OpenLDAP on the Linux side and
ADS on the Windows side.

> And THAT is where we all know Linux is headed...operating system
> domination. But not in the sense that we attribute to the empire of Bill
> the Gates. Maybe "domination" isn't the best choice of a word. How about
> "operating system freedom" instead? I know many people said this a few
> years ago, but the next few years are going to be very interesting to
> watch as Linux grows...even more!

It is.  About 18 months ago I was a bit pessimistic about the future of
Linux, gave it maybe one chance in three.  Today I give it two out of
three,  the recent progress has really been amazing (after the lull
immediately following the Internet economy "collapse").