But Wait, There's More

Novell Quietly Releases SUSE Linux 10.0

Commercial Linux distributor Novell said last week that it had begun shipping SUSE Linux 10.0, the commercialized version of the Linux implementation created by the openSUSE open source SUSE Linux community developer project and the kicker to SUSE Linux Professional 9.3. Novell didn't make a big splash with the announcement, but just had a mention in its openSUSE blog that it was now available. SUSE Linux 10.0 has all the latest tweaks for the Linux 2.6 kernel to support wireless protocols and the latest pre-release of the OpenOffice.org suite. SUSE Linux 10.0 also includes Novell's AppArmor security, the open source Xen hypervisor for PC and server virtualization, and updates to the Mono and Eclipse development tools. The software will also include file and print servers with iFolder 3.0 support software that Novell just launched with Open Enterprise Server Service Pack 1 a few weeks ago. iFolders are virtual storage areas for user data, which can be shared with other users. Xen and iFolder are expected to be key components of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10.0 when it ships next year. SUSE Linux 10.0 also includes the latest snapshots of the Firefox Web browser, the Beagle desktop search, the Amarok MP3 player, with a total of 1,500 applications bundled in. It will sell for $59 in North America and 59 euros in Europe, which is a 44 percent price cut over SUSE Linux Professional 9.3. I should be trying my copy out on the laptop in a week or so.

Novell also said that Alpha 1 of SUSE Linux 10.1 was available on the openSUSE site, if you want to get on the bleeding edge.

In a separate, but related, announcement, Novell announced something called the Better Desktop Initiative, which is a new part of the openSUSE project that seeks to improve the quality of the desktop implementation of Linux. With this initiative, Novell is teaching the Linux community about how to set up a usability lab, including video footage of guinea pigs trying to use Linux on the desktop. Nat Friedman, vice president of collaboration and desktop engineering for Novell, says Novell wanted to show Linux developers the world over what it looks like what Windows end-users actually do when confronted with trying to figure out Linux. As he correctly points out, Linux people tend to know Linux people, and I would add that Linux people often forget how alien Linux is to Windows people.

New Exec Takes on Novell's European Challenge

With SUSE having been the dominant supplier of Linux in Europe before it was eaten by Novell nearly two years ago, and Unix and Linux being more popular (and for longer) in Europe, you might think that the European Linux business would be a relative breeze for Novell. But, for a lot of reasons, it has not been. That's why Novell has recruited Thomas Francese, a 30-year veteran from IBM's Software Group who most recently was vice president in charge of IBM's EMEA operations in that group, to be president of Novell's EMEA operations. Francese will report to Ron Hovsepian, executive vice president at Novell and its president of worldwide field operations. Hovsepian got the top sales and operations job at Novell this year after turning around Novell's North American organization, and is counting on Francese to help him turn around Novell's European arm. With hgis appointment, Francese becomes a member of Novell's worldwide management committee, too.

Power.org Adds More Members

The Power.org community of hardware and software vendors that are building solutions based on IBM's Power architecture held a conference in Shanghai, China, recently, creating new working groups to foster the creation of Power-based solutions and added eight new members to the organization.

Power.org is not a consortium, which would have the power to direct the development of the Power platform, but is rather a collection of Power enthusiasts who use their indirect influence with Big Blue to get it to push the Power architecture in specific ways and into specific markets. It is more like a political party than a ruling government in this regard. Nonetheless, it is a useful way for IBM to open itself up to the advice of partners as it seeks to push the Power architecture into new place.

The two most interesting new members of the community are Terra Soft Solutions and Genesi. Terra Soft is a commercial Linux distributor founded in 1999 that is focused solely on the Power platform with its Yellow Dog Linux, and has been one of the main benefactors of Apple's use of Power chips in its desktops and servers. But with Apple moving to Intel chips starting next year, Terra Soft needs to get its own platforms together. This is exactly what the company plans to do, and it is working with Mercury Computer Systems to deliver the XR9 rack-mounted server, which has two 2.4 GHz PowerPC 970FX processors in 1U and 4U form factors, running Yellow Dog Linux. The XR9 will use HyperTransport and PCI-X buses (which is interesting), with optional InfiniBand interconnections. It will also have two Gigabit Ethernet ports. Genesi is a maker of small form factor motherboards based on PowerPC processors (called PegasosPPC) and a Linux workstation based on these boards (called the Open Desktop Workstation). Genesi already sells products based on the PowerPC G4 processors, and said that it would be developing a product called the Open Server Workstation that will be based on two dual-core PowerPC 970MP processors. The other new Power.org members are CipherOptics (a provider of data security and encryption solutions), CriticalBlue (which creates special co-processors that embed the functions of software to create offload engines), Mentor Graphics (an electronic design automation software provider), Silicon Application Corporation (a semiconductor supply chain services provider), Tehuti Networks (a fabless semiconductor designer), and Virtutech (a developer of simulation software that emulates systems-level software on specific computing architectures). The latter is also interesting in that IBM was using Virtutech to simulate the running of its Virtualization Engine hypervisor on future Power6 processors--before they even went to first silicon.

Radiant Data Creates Entry PeerFS Data Replication for Linux

Data replication software vendor Radiant Data has announced a new entry-level, low-cost version of its PeerFS replication software for Linux servers. The PeerFS Basic Edition provides two-node data replication for Linux servers and costs only $495 per server pair. While this basic capability is interesting, the PeerFS Advanced Edition, which costs $995 per server pair, is more appealing to a lot of Web site owners since it has POSIX-based record-level locking that enables active-active processing of linked servers that are based on MySQL databases or Samba file servers. Radiant Data also sells an Enterprise Edition that scales up to 128 nodes for data replication with extra support for the NFS file system as well; this costs $995 per node (not pair). A version of the software that replicates over wide-area networks (WANs) using the Enterprise Edition as a code base, and appropriately called the PeerFS Enterprise WAN Edition, costs $1,995 per node.

Low Interest Rate Deal from Big Blue Gets a Little Less Low

That Low Rate Financing deal that IBM has been touting on and off for a few years to help it peddle hardware and software just got a little less low. In January 2005, IBM had lowered rates to stimulate demand, and in April and then again in July it pushed them a tiny bit above the levels rates were at before it dropped them in January and quite a bit higher than what Big Blue was charging in the summer of 2004.

The Low Rate Financing deal has let companies buying from $25,000 to $1 million in hardware finance it under what IBM calls low rates; those buying pSeries products get the same rates, but get a sweetened deal that can span up to $2 million in a single deal. The rate for pSeries, iSeries, zSeries, and xSeries servers and their associated storage is now 4.25 percent (up from 4.1 percent in April and up from 3 percent in May 2004). Software and consulting contracts from the Business Consulting Services line at IBM's Global Services group can be financed at 4.55 percent, with Integrated Technology Services financed at 5.05 percent. IBM is not selling PCs any more, so they are not in this deal. These low rates are only offered for qualified customers (meaning those with decent credit and solid financials), and they are only available on capital leases with a 24- to-36-month term with a $1 end-of-lease payout. This deal runs through December 31, and is retroactive to October 1.

IBM Streamlines Product Configuration with Director 5.1

IBM this month is launching Director 5.10, a new release of its suite of systems management software that supports--and is shipped free with--the full range of eServers from Big Blue. A number of new features are available with this release, which brings support for Linux on the zSeries and pSeries systems, as well as support for IBM's new System z9 mainframe.

One of the primary goals of Director is to centralize management of a range of platforms into one interface, so it's no surprise that the user interface was targeted for improvement with Director 5.10. IBM says the new interface has been streamlined for greater productivity, while lightweight agents and more customizable deployment options will make it easier to deploy. There's also a new Software Health Check feature that's designed to save administrators time by determining which systems need an update, while a new Event Action Plan Wizard provides a step-by-step guide for telling Director what to monitor and what actions to take in response to an alert. eServer shops deploying BladeCenter servers will benefit from new Director tools for managing the configuration of BladeCenter chassis and subsystems, while Wintel users will see closer integration between Director and Microsoft's Systems Management Server and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) products. IBM Director supports i5/OS, Windows, Intel Linux, Power Linux, zSeries Linux, AIX, and System z9 across iSeries, xSeries, pSeries, zSeries, BladeCenter, and OpenPower servers.