Zimbra is related, in a roundabout way, to Novell issues. Namely, it's a BIG competitor to GroupWise. With VMWare as it's parent company and it's favored status in Europe, it's claiming market share quite easily.
I just got done with a VMWare webinar on Zimbra, and I must say I'm quite impressed. Assuming that it does everything they say it can do; reality is ofttimes much different from test beds after all.
I like the fact that it has native support for smart devices - including BES - and that they developed the web client first, later providing the "fat" client for mobile users. It works on Macs - including iPads - and Linux too. This could be a real boon for schools. The licensing is attractively priced and it's designed for virtual environments. Very cool!
It's easy enough my Mom (poor Mom!) could use it, and powerful enough for everything I'd need. I really like the file sharing features too, which would fit very well into the needs of many of my end-users. Kind of like a morph of iFolder and DocXchanger with a very intuitive interface.
Maybe I should just apply for their Community Development Manager spot...I'm starting to sound a bit like an evangelist. I seem to know what user groups like and need from their vendors; at least I think I do.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Don't Panic - don't you know where your towel is?
I know I'm a bit late to the party, but in case you hadn't heard yet, Novell's agreed to be acquired by Attachmate. Sorry, but I've been busy job hunting, the wallet's a bit more important than the blog at the moment.
There's been all sorts of back and forth, rumor, speculation and general FUD about the whole deal Don't panic just yet. No one knows yet what this will all mean for those of us Novell die-hards. Patents are being sold to CPTN holdings, which is apparently a Microsoft company in some fashion; Novell has said they're holding onto the UNIX patents. That being said, none of this has cleared the SEC yet, so there's no definitive "these are going here, those are staying there" statements to be made yet.
Richard Bliss has put a spin on it that I've been mulling over, but does it in a much more brilliant fashion than I ever would/could. I suggest you check out his blog postings about the imminent sale. There can be much good from this, especially going from public to privately held companies.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/279ga6y
I've been asked a lot of "but what does this mean for us?" Just a reminder folks, I don't work for Novell. And even if I did I wouldn't be able to tell you. My suggestion (having been a survivor of many mergers and layoffs) is to take a deep breath, continue about your business and wait for Novell, Attachmate, and the SEC to make accouncements as things commence. Worst case scenario is that you need to migrate off of your current systems due to support concerns. Best case is things vastly improve, the support that we used to know and love returns to its heyday. More than likely, things will end up somewhere in the middle as usually happens in this kind of situation.
There is one truth here to be remembered though: IT is all about change and if you're change resistant you're in the wrong industry.
As for me, I'm back into my MCITP books, checking into financial aid for another round of college classes, and planning for the next sharp turn in this crazy thing we call IT.
There's been all sorts of back and forth, rumor, speculation and general FUD about the whole deal Don't panic just yet. No one knows yet what this will all mean for those of us Novell die-hards. Patents are being sold to CPTN holdings, which is apparently a Microsoft company in some fashion; Novell has said they're holding onto the UNIX patents. That being said, none of this has cleared the SEC yet, so there's no definitive "these are going here, those are staying there" statements to be made yet.
Richard Bliss has put a spin on it that I've been mulling over, but does it in a much more brilliant fashion than I ever would/could. I suggest you check out his blog postings about the imminent sale. There can be much good from this, especially going from public to privately held companies.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/279ga6y
I've been asked a lot of "but what does this mean for us?" Just a reminder folks, I don't work for Novell. And even if I did I wouldn't be able to tell you. My suggestion (having been a survivor of many mergers and layoffs) is to take a deep breath, continue about your business and wait for Novell, Attachmate, and the SEC to make accouncements as things commence. Worst case scenario is that you need to migrate off of your current systems due to support concerns. Best case is things vastly improve, the support that we used to know and love returns to its heyday. More than likely, things will end up somewhere in the middle as usually happens in this kind of situation.
There is one truth here to be remembered though: IT is all about change and if you're change resistant you're in the wrong industry.
As for me, I'm back into my MCITP books, checking into financial aid for another round of college classes, and planning for the next sharp turn in this crazy thing we call IT.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Big EveNt - may yet be revived
My current employer won't be needing me any more, which also means they also won't be able to limit my involvement in The Big EveNt any more. I've mentioned this to a few folks and it looks like I may actually have some much needed planning help with pulling off such an event.
If you're at all interested in bringing back The Big EveNt to West Michigan, please let me know. We're talking about a possible 2012 event, one that is broader than just Novell (which it has been moving towards this entire time), and we'd love some suggestions as to who to involve. More importantly, we could use more volunteers!
If you're at all interested in bringing back The Big EveNt to West Michigan, please let me know. We're talking about a possible 2012 event, one that is broader than just Novell (which it has been moving towards this entire time), and we'd love some suggestions as to who to involve. More importantly, we could use more volunteers!
GroupWise Problem 102 - Contact folders are out of sync
I was thinking it was just my environment. After all, we're having odd issues with new user creations where the GroupWise database doesn't get created and the user isn't fully added to their groups. I still think we're having an eDirectory sync issue, but this latest GroupWise issue has a couple of possible causes.
First, let me state that I started seeing this problem crop up with new user adds. These are users with no personal address books as they haven't even logged in yet. I'll get this message on the same GWCheck run day that I grab mailbox statistics and the fact that they have no quota is the key to them being a new account.
Second, this is cropping up for users whose GroupWise database actually gets created (not all of our new users' databases actually create). I'm assuming there's some kind of syncing issue between the NetWare boxes that host the eDirectory replicas and our Linux boxes that host the various components of GroupWise. Our GW domain sits on a Linux box with NSS volumes, our POs run on straight Linux boxes with EXT3 partitions.
Imagine my surprise when I *finally* found a TID related to this. Check out Novell TID# 7005073 for possible resolutions.
Unfortunately for me, none of my affected users seem to have a "/" in their address books. That doesn't mean there isn't one, just that no one's fessed up yet. For all of my new users, this is apparently one of those "Reported to Engineering" issues that I simply have to wait for a fix on. Or more correctly, that my current teammates will need to wait for a fix on as I won't be around here for much longer.
First, let me state that I started seeing this problem crop up with new user adds. These are users with no personal address books as they haven't even logged in yet. I'll get this message on the same GWCheck run day that I grab mailbox statistics and the fact that they have no quota is the key to them being a new account.
Second, this is cropping up for users whose GroupWise database actually gets created (not all of our new users' databases actually create). I'm assuming there's some kind of syncing issue between the NetWare boxes that host the eDirectory replicas and our Linux boxes that host the various components of GroupWise. Our GW domain sits on a Linux box with NSS volumes, our POs run on straight Linux boxes with EXT3 partitions.
Imagine my surprise when I *finally* found a TID related to this. Check out Novell TID# 7005073 for possible resolutions.
Unfortunately for me, none of my affected users seem to have a "/" in their address books. That doesn't mean there isn't one, just that no one's fessed up yet. For all of my new users, this is apparently one of those "Reported to Engineering" issues that I simply have to wait for a fix on. Or more correctly, that my current teammates will need to wait for a fix on as I won't be around here for much longer.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Job Hunt is On!!
For those of you who don't know yet, I was given word on October 29th that my position is being eliminated at the end of June. Or I can leave at the end of January and get some severance. I don't know which way I'll go yet, but I knew this was coming for some time so I'm okay with it and was ready with resumes and cover letters. It's the right decision for work due to budget woes, and I'm excited about new opportunities and a change of pace.
The bad news is that another friend was told shortly after that that he'll no longer be needed after December 4th. So my ears are open for all opportunities in the Grand Rapids/Lansing/Kalamazoo area for either one of us.
I hit most of my contact lists by Monday afternoon to give as many the news at once as possible. My network has stepped up and is actively looking for me and passing on leads, introductions and extending offers. I am most humbled at the outpouring of support and appreciate everything you all are doing to lend a hand.
You can post a note here or shoot me a note to wmnug at yahoo dot com. If I hear of a spot that I don't quite fit, I'll post it here.
Just a reminder though...I can do more than Novell; it's just my preferred vendor. :)
The bad news is that another friend was told shortly after that that he'll no longer be needed after December 4th. So my ears are open for all opportunities in the Grand Rapids/Lansing/Kalamazoo area for either one of us.
I hit most of my contact lists by Monday afternoon to give as many the news at once as possible. My network has stepped up and is actively looking for me and passing on leads, introductions and extending offers. I am most humbled at the outpouring of support and appreciate everything you all are doing to lend a hand.
You can post a note here or shoot me a note to wmnug at yahoo dot com. If I hear of a spot that I don't quite fit, I'll post it here.
Just a reminder though...I can do more than Novell; it's just my preferred vendor. :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Any Twin Cities folks out there?
I've got a friend looking for a Linux and VMWare ESX guru if anyone's looking for a job with those skill sets in the Twin Cities area. You can drop me a line at wmnug at yahoo dot com and I'll try to hook you up.
BrainShare 2011 - Call for Papers
Novell send out the announcement for the call for Session Proposals today. In case you didn't get such an email, here's what I received:
If you've had a successful project that you'd like to brag about I'd suggest putting in a paper. A presentation at BrainShare not only looks good on a resume, it gets you some perks no other attendees get. I'm debating myself, several things are up in the air at the moment and I'm not sure anyone really wants/needs to hear me yakking on. I'm pretty sure you all got your fill of me at GWAVACon for three years in a row.
But seriously, if you have a really cool way to do something in Linux, or VM, or ZEN, consider doing a presentation. And if you'd had a successful migration project that you're willing to share with others give it some consideration, there are those of us out here that would love to hear of your success.
Dear Mary,
Call for Session Proposals Open Until December 17
The time has come to begin accepting and reviewing session proposals for BrainShare 2011 in Salt Lake City. The Call for Papers (CFP) will be open from now through December 17, 2010 (5:00 PM MST). If you have a proposed topic which you believe would be of value to our attendees, please submit it by going to www.novell.com/brainshare and clicking on the “Call for Papers” link.
BrainShare will have a strong emphasis on technical sessions. Preference will be given to the sessions that are more technical in nature and are focused on an intermediate to advance audience.
We are excited to review your session ideas. Year after year, our content continues to improve. We are confident that this upcoming event will be the best ever!
If you have any questions, please contact us at news@novellbrainshare.com.
Thank you,
The BrainShare Team
If you've had a successful project that you'd like to brag about I'd suggest putting in a paper. A presentation at BrainShare not only looks good on a resume, it gets you some perks no other attendees get. I'm debating myself, several things are up in the air at the moment and I'm not sure anyone really wants/needs to hear me yakking on. I'm pretty sure you all got your fill of me at GWAVACon for three years in a row.
But seriously, if you have a really cool way to do something in Linux, or VM, or ZEN, consider doing a presentation. And if you'd had a successful migration project that you're willing to share with others give it some consideration, there are those of us out here that would love to hear of your success.
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