Novell News

In this latest Network World podcast, Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier, openSUSE community manager at Novell, speaks with Brian Proffitt, community manager for the Linux Foundation. They talk about the first annual LinuxCon event that happened in Portland, Oregon in September and Brian hints at plans for the next LinuxCon.

You’ll also get a status update on Linux.com and how the first six months under “new management” have gone, as well as Brain’s plans to increase content and contributions for the benefit of all Linux users. Listen in to find out how you can participate. (13:21)

In this recently posted NetworkWorld podcast Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier speaks with openSUSE booster and GNOME board member Vincent Untz, about the upcoming enhancements to openSUSE 11.2 as well as some of the cool work that the GNOME team is doing to improve functionality and increase usability. Also, get highlights from the Boston Summit 2009, the three-day GNOME developer hackfest, and find out how to get involved in improving GNOME regardless of your level of technical expertise. (12:40)

In today’s economy, IT infrastructure is becoming more complex and more and more devices are entering the enterprise. This growth creates three key IT challenges for organizations; How to manage this complexity, how to know what assets you have, and how to keep all these devices secure and your corporate data safe.

In this video, Grant Ho, senior solutions manager for Novell Endpoint Management Solutions, offers some tips to help organizations manage, optimize and secure their endpoints.

The openSUSE Project is getting ready to release openSUSE 11.2 in just under a week. When the release is final, the project will create promotional DVDs and CDs to give away at Linux and open source events. But what cover should be on them? The openSUSE contributor community has come up with three really fantastic designs to grace the openSUSE media sleeves, but which one should they choose?

Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier has blogged about the choices and is soliciting comments and votes for the community favorite. Polling will end on Monday, so help the community choose today!

And don’t forget the openSUSE launch on Thursday, November 12. The openSUSE 11.2 release will come with brand-new GNOME, KDE, OpenOffice, Firefox, and all your favorite open source server and desktop apps.

Your vote counts, so don’t delay, let us know which cover you like best today.

In this latest OpenMic podcast, Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier talks with Mono founder, Miguel de Icaza, about what’s new with the Mono Project and what’s coming soon. The two also discuss the many iPhone apps brought to you by Mono, what’s next for Moonlight (the Linux implementation of Microsoft’s Silverlight), and why Windows developers should really check out Mono. Listen here (20:20)

Go here to get more information on Mono.

Guest blog from Grant Ho, senior solutions manager, Novell Endpoint Management Solutions

Today, Microsoft unveils Windows 7, which promises to be one of the industry’s biggest product launches. Analysts forecast that Windows 7 will show significant adoption over the next few years. For example, a recent IDC White Paper forecasts that more than 170 million units of Windows 7 will ship by the end of 2010(1). When we talk to our customers, we hear a similar message – Windows 7 is on the minds of many companies. Given that this new OS is getting its fair share of attention, the question we keep hearing is how do I prepare for Windows 7? And – What should I migrate? How do I do it? How do I ensure my users continue to be productive?

At the end of the day, we all know that a major OS upgrade can be disruptive — it takes time, it takes planning, and it can sap IT time and drain employee productivity if not done correctly. That’s where Novell Endpoint Management Solutions (featuring ZENworks) come into the picture.

• ZENworks Asset Management gives you a clear picture of exactly what hardware and software assets you have with discovery and software inventory capabilities. That means you can easily find out which of your devices are due for a hardware refresh, or if you prefer to upgrade, which devices will actually support Windows 7 and whether or not your applications will run on Windows 7.

• ZENworks Configuration Management can drastically reduces the time it takes to migrate your devices to Windows 7. With official support for Windows 7 coming later this year, you can create Windows 7 desktop images (which can dynamically install hardware drivers and applications specific to the devices they’re deployed), and then automatically deploy those images to your devices. In addition, you can use ZENworks Configuration Management to manage your Windows 7 machines – from delivery of personality settings, to deployment of updates and patches, to performing remote management, and much more.

• ZENworks Application Virtualization lets you easily virtualize your applications and run them on your OS of choice, including Windows 7. This lets you keep your workers highly productive by ensuring that day-to-day applications (even your line-of-business ones) will work on Windows 7, while reducing the time and burden of testing hundreds of applications when you make the switch. And best of all, you can easily deploy these virtual applications to your new Windows 7 machines with ZENworks Configuration Management.

Windows 7 is going to be a key driver in the industry, but to migrate successfully, businesses need to have the right solutions and parts in place. As Louis Pasteur once said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” With the ZENwork trifecta — ZENworks Asset Management, ZENworks Configuration Management, and ZENworks Application Virtualization – we put the chances of success squarely on your side.

Learn more about how ZENworks can help you make the move to Windows 7 here.

(1) IDC White Paper Sponsored by Microsoft, The Economic Impact of Microsoft’s Windows 7, Worldwide, Doc # W7WW709, July 2009

In this second endpoint management podcast, Grant Ho, senior solutions manager at Novell, talks with Paul Beaudry, assistant vice president of Technical Services, MIS at Richardson International.

Richardson International is Canada’s largest privately-owned agribusiness employing more than 1,400 people in 97 locations and generating revenues in excess of $4.0 billion annually. With a large and dispersed enterprise, Richardson needed a solution to help them centrally manage their endpoints, support their end users, automate the distribution of applications and patches, and save time imaging machines. They found the solution with Novell ZENwork Configuration Management — ultimately reducing the complexity and costs of managing of their IT infrastructure.

Learn more about Richardson’s use of Novell ZENworks Configuration Management here.Learn more about Novell ZENworks Configuration Management here.

 

 Managing Complexity: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Managing Complexity .ogg: Download

Yesterday, Network World rolled out a new podcast series, Open Mic with Zonker, hosted by openSUSE community manager, Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier. The new series promises to give an insider’s view on what’s hot and new in the open source community with lively interviews.

In this first podcast, In the Linux Driver Seat with Kernel Developer Greg Kroah-Hartman, Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier talks with Greg Kroah-Hartman about the Linux Driver Project. What is it? What they do? Why they need more companies to get involved. Greg’s also been involved with Moblin 2, the optimized Linux software stack that delivers visual rich Internet and media experiences on Intel Atom Processor-based devices, and he talks about some of the recent developments with that project, including SUSE Moblin from Novell. (12:03)

Check Network World or right here for new episodes.

Today we are introducing the first podcast in a new series on how to effectively manage corporate endpoints. In this debut podcast, Jack McLaine, VIST Financial vice president of IT, speaks with host Grant Ho, senior solution manager at Novell, about managing assets and achieving compliance.

Based in Pennsylvania, VIST Financial is a diversified financial services company offering banking, insurance, investments, wealth management, and title insurance services. Managing user information across all applications is a daunting task for the IT staff, as is maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements including HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley and GLB. VIST relies on ZENworks Configuration Management to ensure compliance as well as efficiently manage operations and accurately report assets.

Learn more about how the robust functionality of ZENworks Configuration Management can help you manage your assets and simplify compliance here. Stay tuned for future episodes that will discuss topics including cutting risk with sound endpoint security practices and reducing complexity with endpoint configuration management.

 

 VIST Financial uses ZENworks: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 VIST Financial uses ZENworks (ogg): Download

A few weeks back the Linux Foundation put on its first LinuxCon event in Portland, Oregon. Now available online, openSUSE Community Manager, Joe “Zonker” Brockmeier’s keynote explored the question what kind of band would Linux be? Using the analogy, Zonker wondered why Linux is more like the Ramones – excellent musicians with a small, niche following– and not more like Beatles – a global phenomenon that everyone can enjoy?

This interactive presentation looks at where we are, and where Linux collectively should be going next. Watch the video here in its entirety (approx. 40 min). You can also visit Linux Pro Magazine’s streaming site to access more sessions from LinuxCon 2009.

And don’t forget, if you are going to be at Ontario Linux Fest 2009 on October 24, Zonker will be at the show reprising this topic. Stop by and let him know what band you think Linux could be.