Slashdot links to a good article on virtualization, this time the inclusion of KVM, Kernel-based Virtual Machine, in the 2.6.20 kernel. There are now, at least, four virtualization options for Linux: VMWare, KVM, Xen (our preferred approach), and QEMU. KVM is new to me; it’s backed by Qumranet which includes the former CTO of XenSource, Moshe Ben, as one of its founders.
Category Archives: Novell
Visualization
Hans Rosling displays some amazing visualization software tools in a talk he gave in February at the TED conference, on the topic of rich vs. poor countries. It’s really worth watching, for at least three reasons: first, the topic is important and we are operating with faulty assumptions about poor countries; second, it’s a virtuoso performance that is exhilarating in its own right; and third, it’s one of (if not *the*) best examples of visualizing data to prove a point that I’ve ever seen. Seriously. Hans is rockin’ it in a plaid shirt and Countryman mike. Some of the software, by the way, is available at Gapminder.
Thanks to Jon Bultmeyer for turning me onto CX Now, a simple but powerful data visualization tool from Business Objects. It’s free. You import your Excel (sorry, Open Office Calque*) model and then manipulate it with all sorts of handsome graphical elements, dials and graphs and slider bars. Then you can export it in a variety of formats, including Flash. So, for example, here’s fifteen minutes’ worth of goofing around with the tool.
Lazyweb, wouldn’t it be great if we could integrate this sort of thing (an open source alternative?) into an “analyst’s workbench” SLED, targeted at the sophisticated but under-served enterprise business analyst, who is still sorely lacking tools? Maybe it could be a virtual machine that runs inside of a Windows desktop, taking advantage of our new Relationship. That would then make it “virtualized visualization,” which might qualify it for tax exempt status as a religious movement. But, seriously, Rick Sherlund has argued that the path to desktop Linux adoption is via individual adoption, and that is going to come from people having needs that are better met with open source tools. One community of users is these empowered but under-served Excel jocks that manage the spreadsheets that run companies. Can we make them mid-level heroes? And one way to get at them might be via virtualization, so that they can keep their Windows desktop and have the swiss army knife to solve problems. (Maybe a Knoppix-like Live CD? USB key pre-loaded?)
* This is a really terrific pun.
On (some of) the press coverage of the MS alliance
(1) Free Software Foundation Attorney Says Microsoft-Novell Deal Won’t Last
Eben Moglen (who, I just found out, clerked for Thurgood Marshall) says that the patent parts of the deal ‘will be “dead” before April.’ That’s because Moglen is chairing the GPL v3 revision process and will try to make sure that they cover the patent provisions in the alliance.
(2) Ballmer: “Linux infringes on Microsoft’s intellectual property”
To quote from the Computerworld article:
In a question-and-answer session after his keynote speech at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in Seattle, Ballmer said Microsoft was motivated to sign a deal with SUSE Linux distributor Novell Inc. earlier this month because Linux “uses our intellectual property” and Microsoft wanted to “get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation.”
Very good video interview with Bill Hilf, who runs Microsoft’s interoperability initiatives (his title is “general manager for competitive strategy.”) This was filmed before the alliance deal, but it gives good insight into Microsoft’s public positioning vis a vis open source: namely, that they need to interoperate.
Ethan! Oracle and Sun news
More rumors about Oracle releasing a Linux distribution, this time from a Jefferies analyst:
“We have heard that Ubuntu is currently working to certify its recently introduced server OS to all Oracle’s major products, including databases and middleware,” she wrote.
“The relationship between Oracle and Ubuntu seems to have come together rather quickly, and is perhaps the fallout from an attempt by Red Hat and Oracle to work more closely together.”
Egbert said she thinks Oracle could introduce a dedicated hardware appliance running Ubuntu and its own software, which would see the company returning Larry Ellison’s “Raw Iron” idea, or a software appliance, much like Ingres Corp’s Icebreaker project.
According to Egbert, the most likely opportunity to announce this project will be the October 22-26 OpenWorld customer event, and its October 26 investor day.
In separate news, Sun announces a data center in a shipping container, which is cool. Here‘s Jonathan Schwartz on the issues around it. (Note “The Searchers” DVD in the photo; I can’t think of a better way to establish credibility than to accidentally put that in the background. Nice going.) And the Schwartz links to a good post by Greg Matter on data centers of the future.
On the differences between Red Hat and Novell
Neil Macallister on the differences between Red Hat and Novell:
Consider LinuxWorld Expo, last week. Novell had a large booth near the entrance of the show floor, where it played host to various partners. Novell representatives were in abundance, sitting on conference panels and offering hands-on tutorial sessions. Special sessions recapped the best content from Novell’s own BrainShare conference.
Red Hat, on the other hand, was a no-show. A cocktail party it sponsored at a nearby hotel was well-attended, but there was little in terms of company messaging or media, customer or investor outreach; not even a promotional flyer.
Likewise, as a member of the technology press, barely a week goes by that I don’t receive some kind of e-mail release or contact from Novell or its representatives. By comparison, I hear from Red Hat maybe once every six months.
In short, Novell is well-aware that it is the New Novell. New Novell’s success depends on engaging the market, getting its message out to customers, winning developer support, and building community — and it knows it. It may not be the market leader today, but it wants to go where its customers lead it.
Increasingly, however, Red Hat is aware of the fact that it is The One and Only Red Hat. Red Hat is holding the cards, and the customers will come to Red Hat.
Old Novell used to think that way.
Dave Rosenberg’s response, and a good dialogue with our Scott Lewis.
And a short positive piece about how Novell has stepped up:
There has been a feeling since Novell acquired SUSE that it needed to up its game in competing with Red Hat and so far this year it seems to be doing so. Without wishing to give with one hand and take away with the other, I can’t help feeling that Novell is currently preaching to the converted, however.That’s a good place to start, but there’s a much bigger market out there that has never heard of Linux, let alone taken a look at it. This is the market Novell somehow needs to crack if it is to seriously dent Red Hat’s market share – let alone Microsoft’s.