Novell 169366 225664244 2008-07-14T20:14:19Z RGTraynor 270405 Replacing per MOS, Replaced: November of → November using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{for|the [[road bicycle racing]] team previously known as Novell|Rabobank (cycling)}} {{POV-check|date=January 2008}} {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Novell Inc. | company_logo = [[Image:Novell.svg|200px]] | company_type = Public ({{nasdaq|NOVL}}) | company_slogan = Software for the Open Enterprise | foundation = [[Provo, Utah]] (1983) | location_city = [[Waltham, Massachusetts|Waltham]], [[Massachusetts|MA]] | location_country = USA | key_people = [[Ron Hovsepian]], CEO and President <br> John Dragoon, Senior Vice President, CMO <br>Dana Russell, Senior Vice President, CFO | num_employees = 5,006 (2006)<ref name="reuters">{{cite web|url=http://www.investor.reuters.com/business/BusCompanyOverview.aspx?ticker=NOVL&target=%2fbusiness%2fbuscompany%2fbuscompfake%2fbuscompoverview&cotype=1M | title=NOVL: Company Overview |accessdate=2006-07-05 |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> | industry = [[Software]] | products = [[Novell eDirectory]]<br />[[Novell Open Enterprise Server]]<br />[[SUSE Linux Enterprise Server]]<br />[[Novell NetWare]]<br />[[SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop]]<br />[[Novell GroupWise]]<br />[[Novell ZENworks]]<br />[[Novell Identity Manager]]<br />[[Novell Access Manager]]<br />[[Novell exteNd]]<br /> [[Novell BorderManager]] | revenue = {{profit}}[[United States dollar|US$]]932.5 [[10000000 (number)|million]] ([[Fiscal year|2007]])<ref name="morningstar">{{cite web|url=http://quicktake.morningstar.com/Stock/Income10.asp?Country=USA&Symbol=NOVL&stocktab=finance&pgid=qtqnnavfinstate |title=NOVL Stock Report |accessdate=2006-07-05 |publisher=[[Morningstar, Inc.|Morningstar, Inc]]}}</ref> | operating_income = {{loss}}US$55.8 million (2007)<ref name="morningstar"/><br /> (-6.0% [[operating margin]]<ref name="reuters" />) | net_income = {{loss}}US$44.5 million (2007)<ref name="morningstar"/><br /> (-4.7% [[profit margin]]<ref name="reuters"/>) | homepage = [http://www.novell.com/ www.novell.com] }} '''Novell Inc.''' {{NasdaqNM|NOVL}} is an [[United States|American]] [[software]] [[corporation]] specializing in network operating systems such as [[Novell NetWare]] and [[SUSE Linux]], secure identity management products, and application integration and collaboration solutions. Together with [[WordPerfect]], Novell was instrumental in making the [[Utah Valley]] a focus for high-technology software development. Today this area has many small companies whose employees have previously worked at Novell. == History == Novell owes its beginnings to the [[Eyring Research Institute]] (ERI) in Provo, Utah. [[Dennis Fairclough]], [[Drew Major]], [[Dale Neibaur]] and [[Kyle Powell]] left their employment with ERI and took with them the experience and technology necessary to start and support the development of Novell. Dennis Fairclough was the member of the original team that started Novell Data Systems. [[Drew Major]], [[Dale Neibaur]] and [[Kyle Powell]] went on to form [[SuperSet]] Software. [[Dennis Fairclough]] was the original founder of Novell, when [[Ray Noorda]] came to Novell, who was dismissed in a route to build upon a new future for Novell. [[Drew Major]], [[Dale Neibaur]] and [[Kyle Powell]] continued to supply support for Novell through their [[SuperSet]] Software Group. Dennis Fairclough, [[Drew Major]], [[Dale Neibaur]] and [[Kyle Powell]]’s work on government contracts for the Intelligent Systems Technology Project at ERI transferred to Novell important insights from the [[ARPANET]] and related developing technologies, insights that would become the foundations of Novell. <blockquote> ERI spawned many high-tech spin-offs, including [[WordPerfect]], Novell, and Dynix in computers and some in the military and communication areas that have all benefited the world. (''The Life of Frank Carlyle Harmon'', written by Cleo Harmon, wife of the Founder and the Secretary of the President at [[Eyring Research Institute]], published 1999) </blockquote> The company began in [[Provo, Utah|Provo]], [[Utah]] as Novell Data Systems Inc. in 1979, a [[hardware]] [[manufacturer]] producing [[CP/M]] based systems. It was co-founded by [[George Canova]], [[Darin Field]], and [[Jack Davis (Novell co-founder)|Jack Davis]]. [[Victor V. Vurpillat]] brought the deal to [[Pete Musser]], Chairman of the Board, [[Safeguard Scientifics, Inc.]] who provided the seed funding. The company initially did not do well, and both Davis and Canova left the firm. The Safeguard board then ordered Musser to shut Novell down. Musser contacted two Safeguard investors and investment bankers, Barry Rubenstein and Fred Dolin, who guaranteed to raise the necessary funds to continue the business as a software company. They, along with Jack Messman, interviewed and hired [[Raymond Noorda]]. The required funding was accomplished through a rights offering to Safeguard shareholders, managed by the Cleveland brokerage house Prescott, Ball and Turben and guaranteed by Rubenstein and Dolin. ==== Etymology ==== The name for the company '''''Novell''''' was suggested by George Canova’s wife who mistakenly thought that “Novell” meant “new” in French. (In fact, the feminine singular of “new” in French is “nouvelle”). === NetWare === The first Novell product was a proprietary hardware server based on [[Motorola 6800]] [[CPU]] supporting 6 [[MUX]] ports per board for a maximum of 4 boards per server using a [[star topology]] with [[twisted pair]] cabling. [[NIC]] was developed for the [[ISA bus]] architecture. The server was using the first [[Network operating system|NOS]] called [[ShareNet]]. Later ShareNet was ported to run on the [[Intel]] platform and renamed NetWare. The first commercial release of NetWare was version 1.5. In January 1983, the company’s name was shortened to Novell Inc., and [[Raymond Noorda]] became the head of the firm. Also in 1983, the company introduced its most significant product, the multi-[[System platform|platform]] [[network operating system]] (NOS), [[Novell NetWare]]. Novell based its [[network protocol]] on [[Xerox network services|XNS]], and created its own standards from IDP and SPP, which it named [[IPX]] (Internetwork Packet eXchange) and [[Sequenced packet exchange|SPX]] (Sequenced Packet eXchange). File and print services ran on the [[NetWare Core Protocol]] (NCP) over IPX, as did Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Service Advertising Protocol (SAP). NetWare uses Novell DOS (formerly [[DR-DOS]]) as a boot loader. Novell DOS is similar to [[MS-DOS]] and [[IBM]] [[PC-DOS]], but no extra license for DOS is required; this came from the acquisition of [[Digital Research]] in 1991. Prior to this, Novell acquired [[Kanwal Rekhi]]’s company Excelan, a company which manufactured smart [[ethernet]] cards, and also commercialised the internet protocol [[TCP/IP]], solidifying Novell’s presence in these niche areas. It was around this time also that [[Ed Tittel]] of [[HTML]] [[For Dummies]] notoriety became involved with Novell, taking up various positions within the newly acquired Excelan before being made national Marketing Manager for Novell, prior to taking up the post as Novell’s Director of Technical Marketing. Novell did extremely well throughout the 1980s, acting aggressively to increase the market initially by selling the expensive [[ethernet card]]s at cost; by 1990, Novell had an almost [[monopoly|monopolistic]] position in NOS for any business requiring a network. With this market leadership, Novell began to acquire and build services on top of its NetWare operating platform. These services extended NetWare’s capabilities with such products as NetWare for SAA, Novell Multi-Protocol Router, [[GroupWise]] and [[BorderManager]]. === Beyond NetWare === However, Novell was also diversifying, moving away from its smaller users to target large corporations (they later attempted to refocus with NetWare for Small Business), reducing investment in research and was slow to improve the product administration tools (the temporary saving grace being that their products typically needed little “tweaking” – they just ran). In [[June]] 1993, the company bought [[Unix System Laboratories]] from [[AT&T]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grokline.net/detail_vendor.php?id=20|title=Grokline Project:Novell|work=[[Grokline]]|accessdate=2008-06-19}}</ref>, giving them rights to the [[Unix]] operating system, apparently in an attempt to strike at [[Microsoft]]. In 1994 Novell bought [[WordPerfect]], as well as the [[Quattro Pro]] product from [[Borland]]. These acquisitions did not last: Novell assigned portions of their Unix business to the [[Santa Cruz Operation]] in 1995, WordPerfect and Quattro Pro were sold together to [[Corel]] in 1996. DR was also sold to [[Caldera Systems]] in 1996. As Novell faced new competition, Noorda was pushed out in 1994, and he was followed by several CEOs who served short terms. One of Novell’s major innovations from this period was Novell Directory Services (NDS), now known as [[eDirectory]]. Introduced with [[NetWare]] v4.0. eDirectory replaced the old [[Bindery server]] and user management technology employed by [[NetWare v3.x]] and earlier. In 1996, the company began a move into internet-enabled products, replacing reliance on the proprietary IPX protocol in favor of a native TCP/IP stack. The move was accelerated when [[Eric Schmidt]] became CEO in 1997 and then brought in Christopher Stone as his right hand man. The result was NetWare v5.0, released in October 1998, which leveraged and built upon eDirectory and introduced new functions, such as Novell Cluster Services (NCS, a replacement for SFT-III) and Novell Storage Services (NSS), a replacement for the Traditional/FAT filesystem used by earlier versions of NetWare. While NetWare v5.0 introduced native TCP/IP support into the NOS, IPX was still supported, allowing for smooth transitions between environments and avoiding the “forklift upgrades” frequently required by competing environments. Similarly, the Traditional/FAT filesystem remained a supported filesystem option. However, by 1999, Novell had lost its dominant market position, and was continually being out-marketed by [[Microsoft]], which gained access to corporate data centers by bypassing technical staff and selling directly to corporate executives. Microsoft worked to make NetWare look second place with [[Windows 2000]] features such as Group Policy. Microsoft’s [[GUI]] was also more popular and more modern-seeming than the character-based Novell interfaces. With falling revenues, the company pushed hard at net services and platform interoperability. Products such as eDirectory and GroupWise were made multi-platform. In October 2000, Novell released a new product, dubbed DirXML, which was designed to synchronize data, often user information, between disparate directory and database systems. This product leveraged the speed and functionality of eDirectory to store information, and would later become the [[Novell Identity Manager]] product and form the foundation of a core product set within Novell. In July 2001, Novell acquired the consulting company [[Cambridge Technology Partners]], to expand offerings into services. Novell felt that the ability to offer solutions (a combination of software and services) was key to satisfying customer demand. This change was strongly resisted within the firm’s software development culture as well as the finance organization which recommended against the merger. The CEO of CTP, [[Jack Messman]], engineered the merger using his position as a board member of Novell since its inception and soon became CEO of Novell as well. He then hired back Chris Stone as Vice Chairman/Office of the CEO to set the course for Novell's strategy into Open Source and Enterprise Linux. With the CTP acquisition, Novell moved its headquarters to [[Massachusetts]].<ref>http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2002/04/29/story5.html</ref> In July 2002, Novell acquired SilverStream Software, a leader in Web services-oriented application development, but a laggard in the marketplace. The business area called [[Novell exteNd]] contains [[XML]] and [[Web Service]] tools based on [[J2EE]]. === Linux for Business === In August 2003, Novell acquired [[Ximian]], a developer of [[open source]] [[Linux]] applications ([[Novell Evolution|Evolution]], [[Red Carpet (software)|Red Carpet]] and [[Mono (software)|Mono]]). This acquisition signaled Novell’s plans to move its collective product set onto a [[Linux kernel]]. In November 2003, Novell acquired [[SUSE Linux|SUSE]], a developer of a leading [[Linux distribution]], which led to a major shift of power in Linux distributions. [[IBM]] also began to distribute Linux, and invested $50 million to show support of the SUSE acquisition. Within the [[openSUSE]] project, Novell continues to develop SUSE Linux as base for its business products. SUSE Linux 10.3 is available as Open Source only-Version (OSS Edition), which is freely downloadable and not a limited evaluation product. It is also available as boxed retail product with formal support. In the summer of 2003, Novell released “Novell Enterprise Linux Services” (NELS), which ported some of the services traditionally associated with [[NetWare]] to [[SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server]] (SLES) version 8. In November 2004, Novell released the Linux-based enterprise desktop [[Novell Linux Desktop]] v9. This product was based on Ximian Desktop and SUSE Linux Professional 9.1. This was Novell’s first attempt to get into the enterprise desktop market. The successor product to [[NetWare]], ''[[Novell Open Enterprise Server|Open Enterprise Server]]'', was released in March 2005. OES offers all the services previously hosted by [[NetWare]] v6.5, and added the choice of delivering those services using either a [[NetWare]] v6.5 or [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Server]] v9 kernel. The release was aimed to persuade [[NetWare]] customers to move to Linux. === Stagnancy === From 2003 through 2005 Novell released many products across its portfolio, with the intention of arresting falling market share and to move away from dependencies on other Novell products, but the launches were not as successful as Novell had hoped for. In late 2004, Chris Stone left the company after an apparent control issue with then Chairman Jack Messman [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_44/b3957125.htm]. In an effort to cut costs, Novell announced a round of layoffs in late 2005. While revenue from its Linux business continued to grow, the growth was not fast enough to contain the fall in [[NetWare]] revenue. This meant that while the company’s revenue was not falling rapidly, it was not growing either. Lack of clear direction or effective management meant that Novell took longer than expected to complete its restructuring. In June 2006, chief executive [[Jack Messman]] and chief finance officer [[Joseph Tibbetts]] were fired, with [[Ronald Hovsepian]], Novell’s president and chief operating officer, appointed chief executive, and [[Dana Russell]], vice-president of finance and corporate controller, appointed interim CFO. === Recent Developments === In April 2006, Novell acquired [[e-Security]], Inc., a leading provider in the [[Security Event Manager|Security Information and Event Management]] (SIEM) space and developer of the [[Sentinel Security Event Manager]]. In May 2006, it sold its consulting subsidiary [[Celerant Consulting]] to focus on its five core products portfolios: Data Center, Security and Identity Management, Resource Management, Desktop and Workgroup solutions. The Data Center portfolio is based around [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Server]] (SLES), with accompanying virtualization, clustering, and security technologies. The Desktop portfolio is similarly based around [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop]] (SLED), along with related offerings for thin client devices and point of service (POS) devices. The Workgroup portfolio provides a cross-platform and mixed-source suite of applications for office productivity such as [[Open Enterprise Server]], [[GroupWise]], [[OpenOffice.org|OpenOffice]], and [[Novell Storage Manager]]. The Security and Identity Management portfolio provides a suite of products that leverage identity information stored and managed with [[Novell Identity Manager]] to manage access to networks, systems, and information. Products include: * [[Novell Access Manager]] – provides identity-based access to internal resources from outside, including web applications, SSLVPN applications, and so forth. Also includes federation based on Liberty and SAML. * [[Novell BorderManager]] – Manages access to external websites from inside the corporate network based on identities and policies. * [[Novell Sentinel]] – A [[Security Event Manager]] that provides event collection, automated correlation, analysis, and reporting – will soon be fully integrated with Identity Manager and other [[Identity management|IDM]] solutions to provide visibility into user activities. The Resource Management portfolio is primarily based around the [[Novell ZENworks|ZENworks]] toolset, which provides application and patch management for servers, desktops, and handheld devices and asset management for Windows and Linux. Novell are founding members of the [[Open Invention Network]], a group of companies that acquires patents, with the aim to protect free and open source software against the threat of patent infringement cases. === Your Linux is Ready === In August 2006 Novell released the SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 (SLE 10) series of products. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server was the first enterprise class Linux server to offer virtualization based on the [[Xen]] hypervisor. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (popularly known as SLED) featured a new user-friendly GUI and [[XGL]]-based 3D display capabilities. The release of SLE 10 was marketed with the phrase 'Your Linux is Ready', meant to convey that Novell’s Linux offerings were ready for the enterprise. In late September 2006 Novell announced a real time version of SLES called [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time]] (SLERT) based on technology from Concurrent Computer Corporation. The future growth of Novell is largely dependent on how successful the SLE 10 products are in the market place. === Agreement with Microsoft ===<!-- This section is linked from [[.NET Framework]] --> {{anchor|Patent agreement with Microsoft}} On [[2006-11-02]], Novell and [[Microsoft]] announced a joint patent agreement to cover their respective products.<ref>http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/nov06/11-02MSNovellPR.mspx</ref><ref>[http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/steve/2006/11-02NovellInterop.mspx Steve Ballmer: Microsoft and Novell Collaboration Announcement<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> They also promised to work more closely together, in order to improve their software’s ability to work with other software, setting up a joint research facility to do this. Leaders from both companies purportedly hope this will lead to better compatibility between [[Microsoft Office]] and [[OpenOffice.org]] and better [[virtualization]] techniques. Microsoft CEO [[Steve Ballmer]] said of the deal, “This set of agreements will really help bridge the divide between open-source and proprietary source software.”<ref>[http://news.com.com/Microsoft+makes+Linux+pact+with+Novell/2100-1016_3-6132119.html?tag=nefd.lede Microsoft makes Linux pact with Novell - CNET News.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The deal involves upfront payment of $348 million from Microsoft to Novell for patent cooperation and [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Server|SLES]] subscription. Novell will pay around $40 million to Microsoft over 5 years.<ref>[http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS7235986827.html Novell gets $348 million from Microsoft<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> One of the first results of this partnership was that Novell adapted the [http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter OpenXML/ODF Translator] for use in [[OpenOffice.org]].<ref>http://download.novell.com/SummaryFree.jsp?buildid=ESrjfdE4U58%7E</ref> Initial reaction from members of the [[Free and open source software|FOSS]] community over the patent protection was mostly critical, with expressions of concern that Novell had “sold out” and of doubt that the [[GPL]] would allow distribution of code, including the Linux kernel, under this exclusive agreement.<ref>[http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061102175508403 Groklaw - Novell Sells Out<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061103073628401 Groklaw - The Morning After - Reactions to Novell-MS - Updated 2xs<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://lwn.net/Articles/207559/ Various responses to Microsoft/Novell [LWN.net&#93;<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In a letter to the FOSS development community on [[November 9]], [[Bradley M. Kuhn]], CTO of the [[Software Freedom Law Center]] described the agreement as “worse than useless.”<ref>[http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/20061109a.html Bradley M. Kuhn's Letter to the FOSS Development Community Regarding Microsoft's Patent Promise - Software Freedom Law Center<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In a separate development the chairman of the [[SFLC]], [[Eben Moglen]], reported that Novell had offered cooperation with the SFLC to permit a confidential audit to determine the compliance of the agreement with the GPL (version 2).<ref>[http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2168151/novells-opens-microsoft Novell opens legal books to GPL pundits - vnunet.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Richard Stallman]], founder of the [[Free Software Foundation]], said in November that changes coming with the version 3 of the [[GPL]] will preclude such deals.<ref>[http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/tokyo-rms-transcript.en.html#novell-ms GPLv3 - Transcript of Richard Stallman from the fifth international GPLv3 conference, Tokyo, Japan; 2006-11-21<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> When the final revision of the third version of the GPL license was decided, the deal between Microsoft and Novell was grandfathered in. A new clause will let companies like Novell distribute GPLv3 software even if they have made such patent partnerships in the past, as long as the partnership deal was made before [[March 28]] [[2007]]. On [[November 12]], the [[Samba (software)|Samba]] team expressed strong disapproval of Novell’s announcements on November 2 and asked Novell to reconsider.<ref>[http://news.samba.org/announcements/team_to_novell/ Samba Team Asks Novell to Reconsider<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Samba team includes an employee of Novell, [[Jeremy Allison]], who confirmed in a comment on [[Slashdot]] that the statement was agreed on by all members of the team,<ref>[http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=206202&cid=16817478 Samba Team Urges Novell To Reconsider<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and later quit his job at Novell in protest.<ref>[http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061221081000710 Groklaw - Jeremy Allison Has Resigned from Novell to Protest MS Patent Deal<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In early February 2007, Reuters reported that the [[Free Software Foundation]] had announced that it was reviewing Novell’s right to sell Linux versions, and even may ban Novell from selling Linux, because of an agreement.<ref>[http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-02-02T230933Z_01_N02280856_RTRUKOC_0_US-NOVELL-LINUX.xml] see quote from [[Eben Moglen]], the Foundation’s general counsel : ''“The community of people wants to do anything they can to interfere with this deal and all deals like it. They have every reason to be deeply concerned that this is the beginning of a significant patent aggression by Microsoft”''.</ref> However [[Eben Moglen]] later said that he was quoted out of context.<ref>http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS6837365670.html Linux-Watch</ref> He was explaining that [[GPL]] version 3 will be designed to block similar deals in the future. Currently, Novell is not violating the GPL version 2, under which most of the software in a Linux distribution is licensed.<ref>[http://www.linux.com/feature/60030 Linux.com :: Is Novell losing Linux? No, it's just bad reporting<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Almost all FSF software will transition to the new license, but it is unclear how many other projects (such as the [[Linux kernel]]) will adopt it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://applications.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/09/22/2340202&tid=51|title=Kernel developers declare GPLv3 dangerous|accessdate=2007-03-26|date=[[2006-09-22]]|publisher=[[Linux.com]]}}</ref> On [[May 14]] [[2007]], Microsoft licensing chief [[Horacio Gutierrez (lawyer)|Horacio Gutierrez]] said on [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] that [[Linux]] and associated free software violated 235 patents owned by Microsoft.<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote Microsoft claims software like Linux violates its patents - May 28, 2007<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Some thought that Microsoft wanted to make other open-source software vendors follow Novell’s lead.<ref>[http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=402 Microsoft inks more Novell-like patent-infringement deals | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, this move prompted a comment on [[ZDNet]], by Mary Jo Foley, that this "ended any illusion that Microsoft planned to try to build bridges with the open-source community."<ref>[http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=437 GPLv3 the impetus for Microsoft’s latest Linux attack campaign | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> On October 2007, [http://www.ipinnovate.com/ IP Innovation LLC], a company specialized in patent enforcement, filed a suit for patent infringement against [[Red Hat]] and Novell.<ref name="LLCsuitezdnet">{{cite web | url=http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=833&tag=nl.e622 | title=First patent suit against Linux has a Kevin Bacon-esque connection to Microsoft |quote=''LLC is a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation... This past July Acacia hired Jonathan Taub away from his job as Director, Strategic Alliances for the Mobile and Embedded Devices (MED) division at Microsoft and then, just last week, it hired Brad Brunell away from his job at Microsoft where, among other jobs, he served as General Manager, Intellectual Property Licensing.'' |last=Berlind|first=David |publisher=zdnet | date=[[2007-10-11]] | accessdate=2007-10-12}}</ref><ref name="LLCsuitegroklaw">{{cite web | url=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071011205044141 | title=Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Red Hat & Novell – Just Like Ballmer Predicted |publisher=groklaw | date=[[2007-10-11]] | accessdate=2007-10-12}}</ref><ref>The U.S. patent 5,072,412 concerns the desktop User Interface, see [http://www.google.com/patents?id=3tUkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,072,412 here]</ref> However, IP Innovation LLC is a subsidiary of a company that was a accused of being a [[patent troll]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://trolltracker.blogspot.com/2007/08/deeper-look-at-acacia.html | title=A Deeper Look at Acacia | date=[[2007-08-13]] | accessdate=2007-10-12}}</ref> there have also been accusations <ref name="LLCsuitezdnet" /><ref name="LLCsuitegroklaw" /> of a strong connection between this company and Microsoft. {{seealso|Software patents and free software}} === Support Ecosystem === Novell has a wide array of web-based and phone-based support options for its customers. The Novell support website [http://support.novell.com] was named one of the “Ten Best Web Support Sites” in [2003] by the Association of Support Professionals (ASP). [http://www.novell.com/company/awards/] In [2003], Novell received an Outstanding Website Award in the WebAward Competition [http://www.novell.com/company/awards/] for their [http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions Cool Solutions] website with a searchable database of advice, tools and problem fixes submitted by users from all over the world. Novell also hosts support forums [http://support.novell.com/forums/index.html] covering all of their products including [[SUSE Linux|SUSE Linux Enterprise]], [[GroupWise]], [[ZENworks]] and [[NetWare]]. Novell offers users both [[HTTP]] and [[NNTP]] access to the support forums and a search option [http://forums.novell.com/category/support.tpt]. Whilst Novell encourages the use of these forums, it does not officially monitor these forums. The forums are maintained by SysOps [http://support.novell.com/forums/sysop_info.html] that have a demonstrated competency with the various products and volunteer their time to try and help the wider community. Novell maintains a number of wikis [http://wiki.novell.com/index.php/Cool_Solutions_Wiki_Main_Page] with up-to-date information on a number of its products. For instance, as new NetWare service packs are released the NetWare wiki [http://wiki.novell.com/index.php/NetWare] is updated with tips and known issues with the service packs. In some cases, the service packs themselves will have their own wiki with information added from feedback provided in the support forums. === Acquisitions === * Santa Clara Systems Inc. - 1986 * Cache Data Products - 1986 * [[CXI]] - 1988 * [[Digital Research]] – 1991 * International Business Software Ltd. - 1992 * [[Unix System Laboratories]] – 1993 * [[WordPerfect]] & [[Quattro Pro]] ([[Borland]]) – 1994 * Netoria - 1999 * Novetrix - 1999 * JustOn – 1999 * PGSoft - 2000 * Novetrix - 2001 * [[Cambridge Technology Partners]] – 2001 * [[Callisto Software, Inc.]] - 2001 * SilverStream Software – 2002 * [[Ximian]] – 2003 * [[SUSE Linux|SUSE]] – 2003 * Salmon – 2004 * Tally Systems – 2005 * Immunix – 2005 * e-Security, Inc – 2006 * RedMojo – 2007 * [http://www.senforce.com/ SenForce] – 2007 * [[Platespin]] - 2008 * [[SiteScape]] - 2008 == Certification == Novell is one of the first computer companies to provide certification to its products. They include: *[[Certified Novell Administrator]] (CNA) *[[Certified Novell Engineer]] (CNE) *[[Certified Linux Professional 10]] (CLP 10) *[[Certified Linux Engineer 10]] (CLE 10) == Products == * [[Novell Access Manager]] * [[Novell eDirectory]] * [[Novell Evolution]] * [[Novell Client]] * [[Novell GroupWise]] * [[Novell Identity Manager]] * [[Novell NetMail]] * [[Novell NetWare]] * [[Novell Open Enterprise Server]] * [[Novell Storage Manager]] * [[Novell Teaming + Conferencing]] * [[Novell ZENworks]] * [[Sentinel]] * [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Server]] * [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop]] * [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time]] * [[SUSE Linux Enterprise Thin Client]] * [[SUSE Linux Retail Solution]] == Criticism == In November 2006, the [[Microsoft]] and [[Novell]] software corporations announced a controversial partnership involving, among other things, patent protection for some customers of Novell under certain conditions.<ref>{{ cite web | title = Ars Technica article on the Microsoft-Novell patent deal | url = http://arstechnica.com/articles/columns/linux/linux-20070128.ars }}</ref> See above: [[Novell#Agreement_with_Microsoft|Novell's patent agreement with Microsoft]] == References == <References/> == See also == * [[SUSE Linux distributions]] * [[OpenSUSE]] * [[SCO v. Novell]] == External links == * [http://www.novell.com/ Official website] * [http://www.novell.com/linux Linux at Novell] – SUSE Linux Enterprise * [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/14/14287.html Yahoo! – Novell, Inc. Company Profile] * [http://forge.novell.com/ Novell Forge] – [[Open Source]] project hosting sponsored by Novell * [http://www.novell.com/openaudio/ Novell Open Audio] – official podcast for the Novell technical community * [http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/ Cool Solutions] – tips & tricks, guides, tools and other resources submitted by the Novell community * [http://www.novell.com/coolblogs/ Cool Blogs] – official blog of Novell employees * [http://www.novellblog.com/ NovellBlog.com] * [http://www.nuinet.com/ Novell Users International] * [http://www.whiteworld.com/novstory/surf00.htm] – Surfing a High Tech Wave: A story of Novell’s Early Years 1980-90 * [http://gizbuzz.co.uk/2006/microsoft-and-novell-entering-linux-based-partnership/ Summary of the press conference on 2/11/06 announcing the patent agreement between Novell and Microsoft] * [http://opensuse.org/FAQ:Novell-MS FAQ:Novell-MS] – an FAQ on all things surrounding the Novell-MS deal {{Novell}} {{IT giants}} [[Category:Computer companies of the United States]] [[Category:Companies established in 1983]] [[Category:Companies based in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Netware]] [[Category:Linux companies]] [[Category:Software companies of the United States]] [[Category:Novell]] [[Category:Information technology consulting firms of the United States]] [[ar:نوفل]] [[cs:Novell]] [[da:Novell]] [[de:Novell]] [[et:Novell (firma)]] [[es:Novell]] [[fr:Novell]] [[hu:Novell]] [[nl:Novell]] [[ja:ノベル (企業)]] [[no:Novell]] [[pl:Novell]] [[pt:Novell (empresa)]] [[ru:Novell, Inc.]] [[fi:Novell]] [[sv:Novell Inc]] [[tr:Novell]] [[uk:Novell]] [[zh:Novell]]