Part 1: In this episode, Erin Quill interviews Roger Burkhardt (Ingres) and Tom Rabon (Red Hat). Hear what prompted the creation of Open Source for America and why it is important for the community to get involved.

Part 2: In this episode, Brian Gentile (JasperSoft) and John Scott (Mercury Federal) present their thoughts behind how Open Source for America’s member community can best work with and assist the Federal Government as advocates.

Part 3: In this episode, Bill Vass (Sun) and Paul Smith (Red Hat) discuss software security concerns and ways the US Federal Government can benefit from open source software.

Part 4: In this episode, Simon Phipps (Sun) and Michael Tiemann (Red Hat & OSI) discuss the history of free and open source software, what the “freedoms” in the Free Software Definition really mean, and how Governments can benefit from free and open source software.

Most gratifyingly, since we made the announcement, we have had more than 3,200 account requests for our free online tool for building appliances. That's about one request a minute! All this enthusiasm reinforces Novell's dedication to helping our partners easily build, manage and sell software appliances.

We're looking to see you there, so get started today here.

Today we announced a comprehensive log management solution that expands the functionality offered in Novell's security information and event management solutions. Novell Sentinel Log Manager simplifies fulfillment of audit requirements and improves security by streamlining the management of ever-increasing volumes of raw event data used for risk investigations and compliance reporting.

Randy Hardin, lead systems engineer at University of Dayton I.T., was part the beta test group for Sentinel Log Manager. A long time Novell customer, Hardin appreciates the interoperability capabilities Novell delivers. Challenged with finding an efficient way to demonstrate PCI DSS compliance, Hardin is looking to Novell Sentinel solutions to connect the university’s wide array of systems in order to collect data in real-time that can easily be searched and validated so he can report with confidence that the university is compliant at all times. Learn more about Novell Sentinel Log Manager here.

Unlike comparable tools from other OS vendors, the fully supported Subscription Management Tool is included free with every SUSE Linux Enterprise subscription. Besides its well-known capabilities like inside-the-firewall security, reduced bandwidth use while updating systems and automated and accurate systems entitlement tracking, the Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 features patch staging, central deployment of packages and support of "sneakernet" configurations. Also, it can now be hosted on a  System z server and is integrated with the new supportability infrastructure of SUSE Linux Enterprise 11.

For more information and to download the Tool, go here.

According to Alan Murray, vice president of product management at Novell, “Today's data centers are heterogeneous environments with multiple masters and stakeholders, but in order for any organization to make decisions or analyze business performance these mixed environments need to work together simply and seamlessly. Novell is a strong supporter of the Configuration Management Database Federation standard, because it facilities the interoperability of data from multiple points of view. With a comprehensive view of the entire IT environment, administrators can utilize configuration data to streamline management tasks resolve issues and most importantly effectively manage the components in their IT infrastructure.”

When we talk about building and distributing software and virtual appliances, many assume it’s a complicated or difficult process. In truth, appliances are just the opposite – they’re all about doing things simpler and easier. In this short video, Matt Richards, Senior Program Manager for the SUSE Appliance Program at Novell, shows just how easy it is to build an appliance using SUSE Studio, a new, free, web-based tool that builds complete software appliances in a matter of minutes.

And, when you're done you can download your avatar using Cafe Press and Zazzle or share the fun with friends through a host of social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook.

With more than 15 years in the identity and access management industry, Novell understands that “cookie-cutter” security offerings inhibit the promise of flexibility, automation and scalability cloud computing offers. Cloud computing will not be successful if enterprise organizations are forced to sacrifice security policies in order to conduct business in the cloud. Cloud assets used by an enterprise must be treated as an extension of the data center. This includes the ability to seamlessly manage security policies, enforce regulatory compliance and conduct prudent business practices in the cloud.

This week we announced Novell Cloud Security Service, a solution that will help Cloud Providers and SaaS vendors assure their offerings meet the unique and strict security and compliance standards required by global businesses. This assurance is backed by more than 60 cloud-related patents and patent applications as well as Novell’s strong reputation for developing interoperable technologies that work harmoniously in mixed IT environments.  You can read more about this news in eWeek, Computerworld and Network World.

The Novell Cloud Security Service is currently in a limited private beta with select customers, including PivotLink. Both organizations will preview capabilities of Novell Cloud Security Service during an industry-wide interoperability demonstration at Burton Group Catalyst Conference, Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.  Visit www.novell.com/cloud for information. Be sure to check back next week to receive a recap of the interop demo via podcast from Novell’s cloud security experts.

Back in March John Dragoon, Novell CMO, wrote An Open-Source Presidency for Forbes.com advocating for open source adoption by the government. And, Novell government customers, like the United States Postal Service, Federal Bureau of Prisons and NASA, are all seeing the benefits that high-quality, low-cost and secure open source software provides.

Stay tuned for more to come from this group.

Novell played a major role in making this happen. Novell Fellow Greg Kroah-Hartman, who leads the Linux Kernel Device Driver project, approached Microsoft and helped guide them though the submission process. From his recent blog post:

There are two major aspects of what (Microsoft) did here:

They released the code under the GPLv2 and publicly stated that this is a valid license for companies to release code under. They will be continuing to contribute under this license, as they work to clean up the code, and add new features and fix bugs as time goes on. This is a huge step forward for Microsoft from what they have previously stated in the past.
They publicly stated that the proper license to release a Linux kernel driver is under the GPLv2, To quote from the notes they sent out to a number of press members:

Q: Why release the code?

A: Because we have utilized Linux code, Microsoft has an obligation to open source the device drivers. This is the process outlined by the Linux community.

Q: Why open source the code?

A: Because this is a requirement of the community, and critical in ensuring that as the Linux Kernel evolves, and as Hyper-V evolves, that the Hyper-V Linux Device Drivers evolve as well.

Under the umbrella of our 2006 partnership and agreement with Microsoft, Novell has worked hard to bridge the divide between Linux and Windows. The major impetus for the agreement was customer demands for interoperability, and our technical collaborations at our joint lab in Cambridge, MA have delivered solutions covering virtualization, management, document exchange – and device drivers. Today's announcement is further vindication of our partnership and is great news for Linux, open source and especially for customers.