Reconsider your perspective...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| jkh Nov 16, 2004 3:51 AM EDT |
OK, background first: I'm a CNE and I've dealt with Novell's Zenworks, and I think I have a decent handle on how Novell thinks NLD would be used, which would be... ==> On an 'Enterprise Desktop', the end user will _never_ install or configure =anything=. An Enterprise Desktop should be built for ease of installation and maintenance. The Install will be done with imaging and scripting. When an end user gets a new PC, it should boot up the first time they turn it on and ask them to log in. The only thing an end user should have to do is wait while an app is installed across the network (on demand). The end user will _not_ be given the root password. They cannot install stuff. They cannot change (meaningful system) configurations. They might not even get that choice between Gnome and KDE (they didn't get a choice on how things worked in Windows, did they?). Think "Call Center Employees" here. This is Novell's first shot at a desktop and it certainly will not be perfect. But their target audience is the SysAdmins, not the home users. --jkh |
| tadelste Nov 16, 2004 10:59 AM EDT |
jkh: People will buy it outside of the enterprise - unless Novell says that they will only sell it to companies with 1000 employees, a special administrator, etc. In a world where it's used strickly in an enterprise, you may have pegged it accurately. |
| cjcox Nov 16, 2004 7:30 PM EDT |
Even our Windows desktops are preconfigured and deployed... I create my SUSE images for deployment as well (though I do allow them root privs... my customers are engineers currently). Do companies just throw folks copies of XP for installation?? Having installed it numerous times, I can tell you, it aint easy for a Sys Admin. |
| jkh Nov 17, 2004 4:21 AM EDT |
Hi tadelste. As far as I can determine, NLD will be available for 'eval' downloads, but will not have a retail presence. SuSE will keep that part. NLD is pegged to stay in step with a 'Novell Enterprise Server' linux version, with less frequent updates, while SuSE will stay closer to the bleeding edge. I really expect the NLD desktop to morph into a Gnome/KDE hybrid that is (eventually) tightly integrated into NDS/eDirectory (a la kiosk mode). cjcox -- agreed and agreed. "Entrprise Desktop" linux is going to be a different animal from home user or server linux. SysAdmins have different interests/criterias/agendas (sorry, can't find the right word...) than end users. thnx.... |
| tadelste Nov 17, 2004 9:33 AM EDT |
cjcox - The Windows XP thing is all over the place. SMS can deploy it, for example, and other tools exist. Naturally, it depends on the hardware configuration. I haven't done it in a while but we used to have it down to how many desktops a tech could install per day and then calculate how many techs we needed depending on the time for rollout. As people say, the best remote administration tool for Windows is a car. I have dolled it out to assigned department support people and let them do it. That was some time back. jkh - I spoke to one of the department heads at Novell yesterday afternoon as they contacted Dave to discuss the issue related to Evolution "migration". So I returned the call. That evolved into a discussion about the different products. SUSE Pro is on a six month time release cycle - NDL and SLES is a longer release cycle. You can purchase the NDL desktop retail from CDW for $43.26 as an example. Novell doesn't care if someone buys the NDL desktop for home use or enterprise use. What else can I say? |
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