They started with a demo of YaST … pretty cool … it’s the
integrated management “console” they want to promote across all
GNU/Linux distributions.  (the wireless just went down again)

Next, Nat came up and did a demo of the new Open Source 
iFolder.  They indicated that it is entirely written in C# using
Mono.  He also indicated that it’s all out there today and both
Windows and GNU/Linux code was available.  They also used GAIM,
and indicated that both the front-end (of course) and the back end were
out there in Open Source.  Cool stuff.  They also showed the
printing support.  GNU/Linux Desktop stuff … not anything really
thrilling to the current GNU/Linux user …

JD Nyland (a great guy!) is now showing a demo of mounting NetWare NSS
volumes in Linux … this is obviously part of their migration tools
support.  I’m curious if they are going to demonstrate how the
user rights are going to be handled … this is the most complex issue
related to this type of capability.  Nope … they didn’t address
that issue.

He then went on to show Red Carpet delivery of .RPM packages to a
NetWare server.  It was a good demonstration of how they are
moving to standards like RPM and providing a consistant
interface/implementation (Red Carpet) across the two kernels.  He
installed and removed a VNC RPM on a NetWare server.  Lastly, he
showed off their Virtual Office solution … a web-based integration of
numerous Novell products.

Chris closed up the demos … and that was the Monday keynote.  Interesting stuff …

I have to say … Enterasys again blows!  This wireless network
absolutely sucks!  It has been up and down non-stop during the
keynote … and it just plain pitiful.  It’s too bad they couldn’t
find a better partner to do this … I remember last year that I pushed
the Novell Brainshare Team about this issue … they were afraid that
no other partner would step up.  It’s really too bad they don’t
get how important it is … Novell the networking company … that
can’t do wireless networks.  ;-(

Jack asked what is next for Linux?  Linus indicated that he only
works on the kernel.  He indicated that the v2.6 kernel is coming
… and will have to be tested.  “There will always be some issues
…”

Jack asked if you started over, what would you do different? 
Linus indicated that he wasn’t sure what he could have done
better.  He believes that making it GPL is what made it work.

Chris asked what could threaten Linux?  Linus answered that it’s not technical issues … software patents are one area.

Chris asked what is missing in his life?  Linus said he’s happy so far.

Jack:  If you weren’t doing this, what technical interests would
you have?  Linus: Hardware.  He likes low-level stuff …

Chris:  What is the best compliment to Linux?  Linus: 
The strength is not a single niche.  Not a single space. 
It’s very broad …

Audience Question:  Where do you see Linux in 20 years? 
Linus:  Way to hard to answer.  Even 5 years is too
much.  Not a believer in that … it’s sure failure to look that
far out.  In the next few years, it’s the desktop.

Audience Question:  (guy from Argentina) Comment on the government
adoption of Linux?  Linus:  I have a policy about not caring
who uses Linux.  If it’s made good enough … people will use it.

Chris wrapped and said to move to the demos …

Chris started off with talking about certain “myths” that exist about
Open Source.  He did allude to SCO a couple of times, however
again refrained from mentioning names … good job.  During his
discussion about these myths, he indicated that Open Source is still a
capitalist business.

He is pushing that Novell is going to provide an alternative desktop
solution … the Linux Desktop.  The benefits being more choice,
less cost, and increased security.  What is again facinating is
that he blurs the lines about what is “Linux” and what is not.  He
seems to continue the “myth” that all of the applications software is
“Linux” … Linux is the kernel.

He is commiting that all of Novell will move off of Microsoft Office to
Open Office by mid-Summer 2004.  Half employees on to Linux
desktops by the same time.  All Novell employees will be on Novell
Linux by late 2004.

They have a strong emphasis on Web Services and Digital Identity. 
They are pushing their relationship with the Liberty Alliance.  It
is good to see that they are embracing Web Services … I’ll be looking
for more details on how they are Web Service enabling their products
and solutions.  How many of these are available now, or soon?

It’s interesting to hear his current section on the Future of NetWare
… he is on the verge of  saying that “the kernel doesn’t matter”
… which is exactly what I believe.  He talked about the fact
that customers ought to be looking at the “upper layers” of software
and applications.  And then he says these are Linux … but they
aren’t.  Linux is the kernel.  The upper layers are GNU, and
Open Source software … more specifically – UNIX-compatible
software.  They are serious about hardening the Linux v2.6 kernel,
and increasing hardware and software support,  more multimedia and
wireless support, and again increased security.

For developers, they are committed to Eclipse, and continuing to
develop the Mono project.  Both of these are good moves …

“Linux has injected new life into Novell” … I would agree.  And
it’s more than the Linux kernel … it’s what could have happened years
ago … just new management.

Ok … they just showed a “Lord of the Rings” rip off video that was
pretty funny …  and they just introduced Linus Torvalds … live
and on stage!

Jack Messman kicked off the conference keynote by indicating that
Brainshare doesn’t do Windows.  They have pushed that all of the
PCs around the conference are running SuSE Linux Distributions.

As he is going through the “Promises made, promises kept” he is
indicating that they are offering “Flexibility and Choice” …
“Customer Focused” …  “Linux in the Enterprise”.  He is
emphasizing the value of Ximiam and SuSE.  He is also emphasizing
the support that Novell intends to provide to customers – Support,
Consulting, Certification, and Training.  He indicated there are
800 training partners.  Novell is pushing to become *the* “trusted
support partner, 24×7, for Linux”.

Security is the next place that Jack is talking about.  Promoting
Red Carpet Enterprise as a solution for systems management and
maintenance.  He even indicated that if your systems were attacked
and wiped out, Red Carpet can re-image.  What?  I thought it
was all so secure …  😉

Liability and Indemnification … Novell will provide this with
contracts.  I was impressed that Jack chose not to spend much time
on this, nor even mention the SCO name.

Migrating to Linux … Novell will provide the process to make this
simple and possible.  They are pushing a “Getting Started”
promotion to begin this migration.  He then moved to the “roadmap”
… They are going to accelerate the release of NetWare v7.0 … by
releasing Open Enterprise Server … a product that will include both
kernels.  He continues to emphasize Novell’s “we have answers”
position.  He then moved through the various product lines …
their application development stuff (good move … they are adopting
Eclipse!) … the directory products … open source contributions of
iFolder and YaST.  It seems to me that they are open sourcing YaST
with the new emphasis on Red Carpet.  iFolder in Open Source will
be cool … I’ll look forward to checking out the project.  I saw
a session where they indicated they were rewriting in C#/Mono …

New partner announcements – PartnerNet Program now consists of Solution
Providers, Technology Partners, and Training Partners.  The focus
on these Partners will be: Linux, Secure Identity Management, Resource
Management, and Web Services. 

I came across this announcement the other day, and it really bothered
me at how misleading this information is.  Even the title of the
article starts off with mild misinformation.  It ought to say
“Macromedia to test Wine support” … or even “Macromedia to test
UNIX-compatible support”.  It seems that few people really
understand what *is* Linux, and what is *not* Linux.

Macromedia to test Linux support
Speaking at FlashForward, an annual
conference for developers who work with Macromedia’s Flash format, Chief
Software Architect Kevin Lynch said the company would begin soon by offering
optimizations to allow Flash MX, its main set of tools for creating Flash
content, to work smoothly with Wine, an emulation program that allows Windows
programs to run on a Linux PC. Depending on developer interest, the next step
would be to produce Linux-native versions of Flash MX and other applications.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5170061.html

What is misleading is that Macromedia is not writing anything to Linux
per se … but instead writing code optimized to be compatible with Wine.  What is Wine?  Why
don’t we peek at the Wine web site where they define themselves:  “Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X and Unix.”

So the article even further blurs the “truth” when it says that Wine
has something to do with a “Linux PC”.  It really ought to
indicate that Wine allows Windows programs to run on UNIX and
UNIX-compatible operating systems.  Linux is simply a
UNIX-compatible kernel … coupled with a lot of UNIX-compatible tools
and applications.  Wine works with Linux because Linux provides
UNIX-compatibility.  Macromedia tools will work with Linux because
Wine works with UNIX-compatible operating systems.

As for the native versions of
these products, Macromedia would be far smarter to write to POSIX APIs,
or stay with UNIX-compatibility.  Why cut out FreeBSD, or Solaris
… or any of the other flavors of UNIX?