Hello everyone,
Happy July and welcome to our latest update newsletter. Two things happen in July… Independence Day and vacations! Unfortunately that adds up to a delay in publishing our newsletter and a corresponding back-log of articles to let you know about. Suffice it to say, you are definitely getting your money’s worth with this issue, we’re bulging at the seams with great content.
If you’re in Nashville, Charlotte or Orlando – be sure you catch our Linux Day events coming this month! Check out the upcoming events section for dates and details.
We hope you enjoy this issue and please feel free to leave suggestions or comments.
Regards,
–Novell’s East Open Platform Solutions Team
Linux Specialists
http://opseast.wordpress.com
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Articles
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Novell Ships SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 Service Pack 1
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Novell recently announced that the first service pack (SP1) for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 is now available to customers worldwide. SP1 features significant enhancements in virtualization, high-performance computing, security, interoperability and system management. SP1 is available to customers with active subscriptions for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Desktop.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4851/0/
and
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4852/0/
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Announcing the SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack
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Interested in running Windows virtual machines on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with Xen and getting near-native performance?
Novell recently announced the commercial availability of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack, a bundle of paravirtualized network, bus and block device drivers that enable unmodified Windows and Linux guest operating systems to run with near native performance in virtual environments created with the Xen hypervisor technology integrated in SUSE Linux Enterprise and Intel Virtualization Technology and AMD Virtualization hardware.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4851/0/
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XEN Will Surpass VMWare by 2008. Or Will It?
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A couple of interesting “perspectives” on the very active Virtualization marketplace. Regardless of who said what, the main point is that while VMWare is the clear leader now, Xen virtualization is catching up, and while it may not surpass VMWare, it will become a very viable option for enterprise virtualization needs.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4853/0/
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Ignore Linux on the Desktop, Face Shareholder Wrath…
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Our own Nat Friedman spoke with Jack Loftus of the Enterprise Linux Log the other day and had some very interesting cautionary words for those who are considering upgrading to Microsoft’s Vista:
“If you don’t evaluate Linux desktops, you may be liable to your shareholders because you’re spending an enormous amount of money to upgrade to Vista without a demonstrable ROI.”
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4854/0/
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Replacing Windows Apps with Linux Alternatives
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Ok, so you’re taking a look at Linux-based alternatives to Windows applications. Surely there must be someone out there who’s already got a suggestion… You’re right! Check out this post to get a head start down that road:
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4855/0/
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Going Green – New category of articles
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Interested in learning how Novell and Linux (and IT practices in general) can help you be a little more environmentally friendly (ie, “Green”)? We’ve started to notice a growing number of articles on the topic, so we created a new category on the blog for it. Below is the link for the articles. Including this one…
University of Buffalo: How To Run Green
UB has a helpful guide to Green (Energy-conservation) Computing that covers the gamut of the topic, from an introduction that puts UB’s initiative in perspective (they have over 17,000 computers on campus) to specific steps that can help rein in power waste.
Category: Going Green
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4856/0/
UB Article:
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4857/0/
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What File Systems Are Available for Linux?
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It’s a common question we get asked by those who are new to Linux, but it’s a question that everyone should think about. What file system do I use for which workload? The first step in figuring that out is to understand the options. Ross brings us some insight into a couple of the common ones – Ext2/3 and Reiserfs. There are also some great links to learn about other choices…
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4858/0/
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File Managers: Alternatives to Nautilus and Konqueror
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Talk about a controversial topic, file managers can get people fighting and arguing almost as much as discussing why VIM is so much better than EMACS. The default file managers that ship with GNOME (Nautilus) and KDE (Konqueror) are very usable, helpful and configurable, I use them both all the time, but it’s never enough to just use the defaults, or you wouldn’t be reading this post… Also, if you like your Norton Commander-style layout or pine for the days of Xtree Gold, then the last half of this article is just for you.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4859/0/
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List of Apps Included in SLED 10 SP1
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As many of you already know, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 includes an office suite, web browser, email client, Citrix/TS clients, and much more! What exactly do we mean by “much more”, (and if we could explain it in plain-English that would help)? I’ve created a document which lists many of those additional applications.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4860/0/
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New Course – SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Administration
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Want to get some training on how to administer and manage SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 for your enterprise? Then this course, designated as Course 3086, is for you. You can get details on the course here.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4861/0/
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Apache Trounces IIS – Less Downtime and Faster Sites
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A research house that goes by the name of WatchMouse has posted numbers that show the combination of Apache and Linux is faster and more available than IIS and Windows. WatchMouse aggregated monitoring information from over 1500 websites covering many and varied business sectors in Europe, most based on Linux or Windows.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4862/0/
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Compiz + Beryl = Compiz-Fusion
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A while ago the Compiz compositing manager project was forked to form the Beryl project, but the two are back together again, with amazing new features and capabilities the main result. You can find more about what’s included and see what’s on the horizon by following the link.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4863/0/
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Novell Unveils Linux-based Workgroup Suite for Small Businesses
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Small business customers and VARs who service those customers might be interested to learn that Novell has a new, linux-based, small biz offering on the horizon. It is expected to be generally available in September 2007. The Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition is based on SUSE Linux Enterprise.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4864/0/
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HOWTO: Linux System Optimization
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Once you get a good set of skills in system administration, or managing your application services, it’s a good idea to dive deeper into Linux’s many facets, particularly how you can tune and tweak performance of your systems. One of Ross’s favorite guides for this is an IBM RedPaper, “Linux Performance and Tuning Guidelines“.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4865/0/
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HOWTO: SLED/GNOME Desktop Lockdown
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Novell has done a lot of work to expand the the use cases for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Today SLED can be deployed in a number of ways from a fully locked down kiosk to a full blown laptop for general knowledge workers. Locked down environments are particularly useful in thinclient computing models.
One of the most compelling reasons to deploy SLED over a proprietary desktop is the ability to lock it down at a very granular level. This means that you have the ability to lock down desktops so that EVERYTHING is locked down, or just a few things. There are a number of tools included in SLED to lockdown the desktop. In this article we’ll discuss how to manually lockdown the desktop.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4866/0/
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HOWTO: Cool stuff you might not know that AutoYast can do – Part 1
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So if you haven’t been deploying your SLES/SLED systems through AutoYast, you’re missing some pretty cool stuff. AutoYast is Novell’s XML based scripted install for its Linux systems and because of its underlying XML format, it allows you to do some very cool stuff. Jason has been working on a couple of small articles to highlight some of the more powerful features of AutoYast. Here’s the first.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4867/0/
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HOWTO: Loading Base SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 Packages into ZLM Bundle
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A short and sweet Cool Solutions article related to loading the base OS packages into a ZENworks Linux Management (ZLM) bundle.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4868/0/
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Success Story Spotlight
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12,000 more SUSE Linux Enterprise desktops
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First National Bank of South Africa to standardise the bank’s +12,000 desktops in its 680 retail branches on Novell’s point-of-service offering. The most significant Linux and open source implementation in South Africa, the project resulted from FNB’s need to drive an improved customer experience while achieving branch effectiveness and efficiency.
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4869/0/
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Upcoming Events
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Linux Days – Nashville, Orlando, Charlotte
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Your chance to get more technical details on SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 continues it’s tour of the Southeast. Register today as space is limited! (We’ve already had to expand the venues once so far…)
JUL 17 — Nashville, TN
JUL 26 — Orlando, FL
JUL 31 — Charlotte, NC
For details and registration:
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4257/0/
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Just For Fun
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The Ultimate Microsoft Fanboy
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4870/0/
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Did You Know…
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According to an article by Stephen Vaughn-Nichols, “Linux servers posted their second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth and now represent 12.7 percent of the overall server market, or $1.6 billion for the first quarter of 2007.”
http://novellevents.novell.com/t/1941162/55200502/4871/0/
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Also Of Interest…
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Who Are the Desktop Linux Users?
Case Study: Stock Firm Reaps Linux Benefits
Extending Power Efficiency of Linux
Stretching the Education Dollar with Linux
Is that a USB Key or a Linux PC? Yes.
Review: Fourteen Word Processors Compared
Fast Guide to Understanding Data Center Virtualization
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General Novell Reference Links
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Connection Magazine
Novell Success Stories
Novell East Blog
SUSE Linux Enterprise Home
