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Intel Debuts 64-Bit Xeon MP Processors Today

It took chip maker Intel some time to get its top-end Xeon MP processors outfitted with the EM64T 64-bit main memory extensions that it has been offering for a year in the "Nocona" Xeon DP processors, but today, the big X86 boxes can finally go 64-bit, too.

The Intel launch of the "Potomac" and "Cranford" 64-bit Xeon MPs, which are kickers to the existing 32-bit "Gallatin" Xeon MPs, is set for 11 a.m. Pacific time today, which means we cannot tell you about it until next week's issue. We could have held the issue for this launch, but there was so much going on elsewhere in the Linux world, it seemed wiser to just tell you it was happening today and have you look for our detailed coverage in next week's issue.

Novell Launches ZENworks 7 Suite, Buys Tally Systems for Management Tools

As expected, commercial Linux distributor Novell last week announced its ZENworks 7 Suite systems management tools at its annual BrainShare user group meeting. But somewhat unexpectedly, Novell then turned around and bought Tally Systems, a vendor of asset, license, compliance, and patch management tools based in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Novell did not disclose what it paid for Tally, and said it should close the deal in April.

Tally's software is running at 15,000 sites worldwide on approximately 10 million PCs. Tally said that back in 1990, it invented and patented the idea of polling PC clients so their assets could be remotely managed. In a statement announcing the deal, Novell said that it needed the Tally programs to make ZENworks more suitable for compliance management, but Novell is getting a lot more functionality than that by acquiring Tally.

A few weeks ago, we told you Novell would be launching the ZENworks 7 Suite systems management tools at Brainshare, and the company did; and as we told you then, the software will not ship until the second quarter, so the full feature set and pricing are still not known. ZENworks is Novell's management tool for taking the reins of servers running SUSE Linux, NetWare, or Open Enterprise Server; desktops based on the Novell Linux Desktop variant of the SUSE platform, as well as for competitive Linuxes from Red Hat; and PCs and servers running Microsoft's Windows. ZENworks is a policy-driven automation tool for applying patches to Linux platforms. It offers Web-based administration of Linux clients and servers through a ZENworks Control Center, which is new with ZENworks 7. The software will include remote control of Linux platforms through incorporation of the open source Virtual Network Computing project's tool, which is also supported on Windows platforms. ZENworks 7 Suite can store so-called "gold images" of desktops and servers and deploy them to bare-metal machines, and it can also scan the network to see what hardware is out there running what Linux and what software is running on top of those Linuxes to help system administrators do PC and server asset management. This is similar to the asset management functionality that Novell gets through its acquisition of Tally.

Novell Opens Open Source Tech Center in Utah

The city of Beaverton, Oregon, wants to be a hotbed of open source software development, and has a pretty good start with the Open Source Development Labs being there and the city and state creating the Open Technology Business Center there in early February. The state of Utah, thanks to 30 years of influence from Novell and many spin-offs over the years, also is something of a hotbed of software development. But we live in a virtual world, and Novell knows it can be a focal point of open source development, but does not have to go as far as trying to convince open source developers to move to its state. However, for all of the local talent, Novell is happy to foster interest in open source, which will undoubtedly help its causes in the Linux market.

To that end, Novell has created what it is calling the Market Start program and what it is calling the Open Source Technology Center. Rather than give newbie open source companies funding, an office, and access to top open source gurus, as OSDL is doing, Novell's Market Start program is a means for newbie open source companies--who have to sign up and be approved by the program--to focus on development of their technology and let Novell's marketing and testing facilities and the vast Novell partner infrastructure help them get their product to market once it is ready for prime time. While Novell doesn't say so, the Market Start program is also a pretty good way for Novell to keep track of innovation in the open source software market. To apply to the Market Start program, go to www.novell.com/linux/marketstart. The program is being beta tested now with a handful of partners, and will be rolled out by Novell for the broader market by the end of the year.

The Open Source Technology Center will be 25,000 feet of office space that Novell will cull from its corporate campus in Provo, Utah to provide office space and technical services to start-up and early stage companies developing open source software applications. Novell is also waving the carrot of potential venture capital to participants in the program. Novell expects the site to start taking in residents in the third quarter of this year. Novell also got the blessing of OSDL for this project, demonstrating that OSDL is going to play Switzerland in any open source incubators that various states and companies set up.

OpenLogic Secures $4 Million in Venture Capital

Broomfield, Colorado-based OpenLogic, one of the half dozen companies that are trying to make a living by integrating and supporting a stack of open source software for enterprise customers, has secured $4 million in funding from four venture capitalists: Appian Ventures, Red Rock Ventures, Village Ventures, and Highway 12 Ventures. OpenLogic has created a systems management program called the BlueGlue Open Source Infrastructure Management Suite, which can install and manage 125 open source programs on development servers and desktops as companies create applications based on open source technologies.

OpenLogic said it will use the Series A funding (which means it is the company's first taste of VC dough) to expand its development, marketing, and physical facilities in the Denver-Boulder high tech corridor.

In addition to the VC funds, OpenLogic announced it has hired Doug Barre, formerly the chief operating officer at Borland, to be its chairman. Barre got his start as a CIO at oil company Texaco, then moved on to be a CIO at Bell Mobility and AT&T/Cantel, two of Canada's wireless telecom firms. He them moved into the software business when he joined mainframe systems software maker Compuware, which has just handed IBM its own head as Compuware forced IBM last week to settle an antitrust lawsuit for $400 million. He moved to Borland after many years at Compuware, and was responsible for taking the Interbase database product open source. OpenLogic also said that it has hired Greg Orzech to be its new vice president of sales; Orzech was the head of sales at VA Software, the former Linux desktop and server vendor that owns media company Open Source Technology Group (which owns some of the most popular Web sites in the world) and the commercialized version for the software behind SourceForge, the gather place for open source projects.

Ticketmaster Picks Red Hat, StrongMail Combo for Email

Ticketmaster, the biggest online ticketing agency in the world, said last week that it has decided to put its email marketing campaigns on a cluster of servers running Red Hat's Enterprise Linux and StrongMail Systems' StrongMail Enterprise emailing software suite. Ticketmaster, which sold $5 billion worth of tickets (98 million tickets) in 2004, had originally planned to develop its own improved email marketing system, but figured out that it could tweak the StrongMail software to create the transactional email application that Ticketmaster required. In fact, the company deployed the new application in under a month. You can read the case study on StrongMail's Web site if you want to find out more.

O'Reilly to Distribute Mandrakesoft's Desktop Linuxes

Linux distro Mandrakesoft announced last week that it has put together two new guides for the desktop versions of its Linux implementation. These guides, as well as the software they cover, will be distributed exclusively through O'Reilly Media, the well-known publisher of technical books.

Discovery 10.1--Your First Linux Desktop is a 273-page book that includes the full version of the Mandrakesoft Linux software of the same name plus 30 days of tech support and software updates; it costs $43.95. PowerPack 10.1--Full Power of Linux Desktop is a 537-page book that includes the full Linux of the same name plus the 30 days of tech support and updates; it costs $59.95. Customers who buy these books and install the Linux operating systems that come with them also get a free upgrade to the next release of Mandrakesoft's Linux, which will be the Limited Edition 2005.