Novell Backs Open-Source Development Lab

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Novell Inc. on Tuesday said it had joined the Open Source Development Lab and that Jeffrey Hawkins, a Novell vice president, had been elected to the OSDL board of directors.

The announcement follows a string of major Linux moves by Provo, Utah-based Novell this fall, as the company embraced the operating system and promised to offer Linux solution across its entire product line. The company is also in the process of acquiring SuSE Linux AG.

Stuart Cohen, the chief executive officer of the Beaverton, Ore.-based Lab, said Novell would participate in a number of OSDL initiatives including the Data Center Linux working group, which is focused on the business-hardening of Linux for use in the Data Center.

“Novell will participate in the Labs key initiatives to advance the use of Linux for enterprise computing,” Cohen said.

/zimages/6/28571.gifThe OSDL recently launched a campaign to discuss the development process for the Linux kernel and its forthcoming Version 2.6. Click here, for more information.

The Lab, a global consortium of customers and technology companies dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux, is also expected to announce the creation of a working group initiative for Linux on the desktop in the near future, with Novell likely to play an active role in that regard.

/zimages/6/28571.gifLinus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, and his right-hand man, Andrew Morton, are both employed by the Lab. To read more about the consortium, click here.

That initiative comes as Sun Microsystems, Inc. continues to land new customers for its Java Desktop System, which many in the community consider essentially a Linux-based desktop solution, with little to do with Java except for its name and branding.

“Novells unique perspective on global enterprise computing software is a welcome addition to OSDL. We expect Novell to be a significant contributor to virtually all of our industry initiatives, as well as to the overall mission of the Lab,” Cohen said on Tuesday.

For his part, Chris Stone, a vice president at Novell, said joining forces with the Lab would help his company to take a leadership role in helping the industry overcome the many challenges that still exist to help Linux fulfill its promise as an end-to-end enterprise computing platform.