thank goodness! i was scared to say anything because i thought netware was its own operating system and everybody seemed to be talking about something else!
i just read in a book by R. X. Cringeley (who must be taken with many pinches of salt) that netware was developed from the ground up as a networking OS at a time when DOS was NOT trying to network at all. Also, he says netware could address 16MB of memory (if anybody actually had that much) compared with the 640k that DOS could address. Cringeley says netware took full advantage of the 286 as well, something no other OS tried to do.
I'm surprised to hear (since that's about all i know about netware) that you all think it sucks! also, i'm a little confused about how it works. Is it a server for local area networks, which requires proprietary client software? yes? :confused:
Alright. I am a NetWare5 CNE and currently working on my CNE6 upgrade. I have been wrenching on Novell products since 2.2 - about 10 years now.
I run a 99.9% Novell based WAN for a school district. For the record from my POV, microsoft is the filth pig whore of our universe and Novell is the absolute pit fighter clawing up and out of the grave that microsoft put so many others in.
Before Novell, I spent 8 years troubleshooting Minicomputer boards running various Nix's. Far as Unix and Linux goes I am a rookie but time permitting am trying to find the time - I think Linux is the correct future. Now you know where I stand:
Novell products and NetWare which accounts for 40+% of all sales is the finest shit available for money for what it does. eDirectory, Novell's fully x.500 compliant ldap Directory is the finest bar none in the world. For such a small company thier technology is unrivaled in the areas of File, Print, Directory and Desktop management (ZenWorks). Except for having a client OS they have everything and more than microsoft.
NetWare is its own OS but boot a Linux box and a NetWare6 box side by side and they look identicle as the modules load even up to xfree86 loading.
Apache is a default option now in NW6 and Tomcat is an option. A web browser and a few small gadgets installed are all it takes to manage and access all resources under NetWare6 and yes Linux and some Unix's and all thier resources are natively controlled when integrated into a single eDirectory tree which has been tested with a billion objects.
microsoft tech and engineers cant do shit on Novell because its not easy. Anyone skilled on any Nix has no reason to complain about any complexity with Novell products. And Novell is kicking microsofts ass little by little turning profits every quarter. Its hush hush but Novell is tight with open source and Linux. Novell is anti-microsoft and therefore friendly.
Its not BSD but it runs like a bulletproof bitch and does require skill to maintain.
