Novell keys up open standards push

SALT LAKE CITY — Novell on Monday showed off a new initiative to embrace open standards and enable cross-platform computing with the adoption of several open-source technologies in current platforms in addition to the revelation of future plans to support Linux on NetWare, GroupWise, and ZenWorks.

Speaking here at the company’s annual BrainShare user conference, Novell Chairman and CEO Jack Messman officially announced NetWare 6.5, which will include open-source technologies such as Apache, MySQL, Perl, PHP, and Tomcat. In addition, with the inclusion of the Novell exteNd Application Server acquired last year from SilverStream Software, organizations can now run any J2EE applications on NetWare, Messman said.

The Provo, Utah-based company also gave attendees a sneak peek at a Version 7.0 of NetWare, code-named Uinta, which will be built on both NetWare and Linux kernels, Messman said. The move will allow traditional NetWare services such as file and print, storage, and collaboration on top of both the NetWare and Linux kernels.

The goal is to provide customers with a clear migration path and future plan for NetWare, he said.

“This is not a departure from NetWare,” Messman said. “Novell will continue to enhance and support NetWare services. This is the future path for Novell customers. It is all about choice. You can run your servers on whatever platform you choose. If you move to Linux we will help you do it with little disruption.”

The focus is on the services, not the kernel, said Chris Stone, vice chairman, office of the CEO, speaking during a press conference following the keynote session.

“We will take NetWare services, break them apart, and provide them across multiple environments,” Stone said.

Novell also announced a forthcoming GroupWise client for Linux and Apple Macintosh desktops, expanding the reach of its messaging platform. Linux support in GroupWise will ship in two phases: The first part will be a Java client for Linux followed by back-end Linux support. Although no ship date was available, the company demonstrated the GroupWise client for Linux and showed a prototype of a GroupWise server back-end running on Linux.

“People mainly buy Linux for Web server and file and print services. We want to make enterprise-class messaging and collaboration available on Linux. We expect to be the first vendor to do that,” Stone said.

Acknowledging Novell’s proprietary past, the open-source push is all about giving customers the freedom of choice, Messman said.

“We admit we stuck with proprietary technologies too long. Customers want [a] de-facto standard,” Messman said.

Other announcements at the show include a new Web site for the open-source and developer communities dubbed Novell Forge). The site is designed to let developers download, modify, exchange, and update open-source code released by Novell, according to company officials. As part of the Forge initiative, Novell is releasing the source code for its Nsure UDDI Server.

Targeting identity management, Novell announced availability of an early access release of the Liberty identity provider for Novell eDirectory. Using the Liberty Alliance Version 1.1 specifications, the Liberty identity provider offers single sign-on capabilities for internal, external, and partner Web sites. In June, Novell plans to ship a SAML extension for iChain, designed to allow businesses to securely share authentication and user information with partners and suppliers across the Web, Novell officials said.