Does Novell fall under and Co of "Linux and Co"?

drowd

not sure if this is the right place to discuss it. oh well. anyway, i was just curious what folks thoughts were on the future of Novell. i am currently working for a fairly large corporation that is really pushing for novell certifications. in the recent months that i have been on the project, it has been good to get to know a different OS pretty well. i had a conversation with my boss about the same topic, and he was under the impression they were here to stay. He says that while the lose a few and gain a few customers every quarter, but that all of their long term customers are pretty die hard, so he sees novell as remaining pretty constant with having 20 percent of the market. I dont know what you folks think or if anyone out there has much novell experience. anyway, just curious what everyone thought.

Ageek

Nopvell, just as Microsoft is, is porting their core stuff so it will become Linux (and possibly other POSIX) compatible more fully.

So, yes, I would expect it to both be around and be EVEN more relevant as an "and Co" for POSIX O\S's than it is in practice NOW. While I have not received the word that the ports are considered real stable, I have seen signs that an early beta is cicrulating.

Yeah, it is both relevant here and reasonable for your boss to expect it to be around for the long haul and as Novell still holds key patents to some Unix code applications and their stuff is reasonably UNIX compliant, the ports are also likely to be good. Novell can become a platform bridge more than it now is with POSIX compatibility.

John Danielson

drowd

cool, thanks for the input. one of the OTHER things my boss was talking about (he is a real talkative guy ) was the value of a novell certification. like, the market is flooded with mcse's and what not, but that while the cne's are never in high demand, the workplace will always need them. and while he is partial to novell, he does have his mcse, ccna, and cne. i think he kind of wants me to become novell certified, but i just dont know if that would be more relevant than an mcse or maybe even just an mcp couple with a cne . . .

Ageek

I would think that Novell experience you can stick on resume and document or cert or both would be worth it. If the cert path is a way that will let him get you hand's on and applying the cert skills, I would go for the Novell cert or at least the training needed for it. The real goal is proof of knowledge, not purely the sheepskin. He is right that there are many mcse's out there, and in pointing out something more unique than 1\2 the applicants you have an edge for a job that needs that skill. Since the MS world still looms large I think I would ask your boss which is more likely to get used in this company you work at now first if you are not sure of order. But yes, would seriously start studying that Novell material.

John Danielson.

primesuspect

It's tough. With a CNE, you're limiting yourself to a select few employers. Novell has made the right moves and they are going back to their roots as a directory service, which is good, but they are still losing market share every second as the Microsoft marketing behemoth pushes Active Directory. I hate to say it, but as far as employment is concerned, an MCSE will get you a lot further than a CNE.

drowd

thanks for the input . . .

Ageek

prime-- he was not talking either\or. He was talking both. And the more approaches to O\Ss you understand the more likely you are to learn others easier.

Novell INSTEAD of MS no, Novell plus MS yes,and go with what helps you most where you are at if you think you might want to break trend and stay there for more than 2-3 years. *nix and Novell took GENERAL ideas from each other, and knowing one will make learning the other easier.

IT is not anywhere near about the sheepskin itself solely, it is about adaptability and the ability to retain and communicate and acquire and use knowledge responsibly. (IT=Information Technology, a descendant of IS).

The biggest places to work use multiple platforms, and Novell, a *nix or two, and MS may all be in use for what they best do for least cost for fulfilling that function. Knowing MORE than one make you more valuable, knowing how they can interlink and be intersuable is the way to best overall success.

To head a multiplatform teacm or design a multiplatorm interoperative network you need to be able to think in many ways. And you need to be able to think in ways that to someone with a single O\S under his\her belt wouidl be so out-of-box for that person that he\she woudl think you are nuts until he\she sees it works and costs less for software end so better hardware can be used and the thing synergizes as far as economy of overall accomplishment of goals that can be all over the ballpark or even in the weeds as better ways to hit the ball further without straining physical resources come into existence by building multiplatform, interoperable, systems.

Understand that last sentence. IT is a knowledge use game and there is room for those who know multiplatform interoperability as those folks who do that right are very rare folks indeed.

John Danielson.