Here is one for the press! Thank you for this week's coverage.

I am proud of nathalie, who runs our PR. On top of taking care of our 3 kids (including the monster twins) here is the press coverage for the week.

NewsForge, "La Quinta reserves room for JBoss" (March 24)
Java.About.com, "Introduction to EJB" (March 24)
CNET, "Novell tweaks management tools" (March 23)
 *Also appeared in ZDNet
IT World Canada, "Novell bets big on Identity Management" (March 23)
Computerwire, "Novell targets Linux at small businesses" (March 23)
ADTmag.com, "Is Eclipse the Commercial IDE Killer?" (March 23)
Computerwire, "JBoss expands Apache support" (March 22)
ZD Net Blog, "JBoss shows how to profit in open source, part 1" (March 22)
ZD Net Blog, "JBoss shows how to profit in open source, part 2" (March 22)
eChannel Line, "JBoss expands support services for Apache" (March 22)
ADTmag.com, "JBoss Inc. Lays Groundwork for JBoss Ecosystem" (March 22)
CRN, "Novell's Next Linux Server, Desktop In The Pipeline" (March 22)
 *Also appeared in Informationweek
Computerworld, "Novell to add more open-source to extend, Novell and JBoss tighten their relationship" (March 22)
Computerworld, "Q&A: Novell CEO touts Linux, identity products" (March 22)
SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, "Novell CEO dismisses analyst report at BrainShare" (March 22)
LinuxWorld.com, "Today's IT Solutions Need to Be "Open, Secure and Global," Says Novell's Messman" (March 22)
NewsForge.com, "Novell's BrainShare 2005: Day 2" (March 22)
DesktopLinux.com, "Novell shares Linux plans in annual tradeshow keynote" (March 21)
eChannelLine.com, "Novell: we're all about Linux and identity" (March 21)
InformationWeek, "Novell Expands Linux And Identity-Management Strategies" (March 21)
 *Also appeared in WebServicesPipeline
Open Enterprise Trends, "BEA's Vision for Eclipse' Web Tools Project" (March 21)
 
 
So again thanks to all of you that have covered the news and included Jboss references.
 
I wanted to focus for one second on the significance of the Novell announcement. I attended Brainshare, Novell's annual user conference with 7000 attendees. The announcement was 3 fold
 
 
Novell will contribute to JEMS development. Novell will first contribute to Jboss Portal by open sourcing large portions of their own portal offering. We made serious announcements at JBossWorld that Portal was going to accelerate quickly and this is part of it, they will be donating 70 portlets and dedicate some of their best developers to contribute to JEMS. And you ain't seen nothing yet, portal is about to go lightspeed, we are just getting warmed up, stay tuned :)
Novell will OEM JEMS. This announcement was done within their identity team. They will build their system on top of JEMS, thus replacing eXtend (ex-silverstream) as the basis for their products.
Novell will support JEMS. This is very much like the HP announcement we did last year (which landed us on the cover of the wall street journal) except that Novell is supporting all of JEMS not just JBossAS and Tomcat. It is significant because it continues to grow our partner ecosystem with established players that take us to market on a worldwide basis.
 
So all in all it was a good week for us. Our channels team has been firing on all cylinders this year, and for a 105 employees company we are getting some serious traction. During Messman's (novell's CEO) presentation, he mentioned 10 times Jboss and then a camera filmed me on screen (I was in the first row), I think I blushed as I realized 7000 people watched. So everyone would recognize me as I was walking through the show. People from the conference would smile and stop me and say hiand talk. They were really happy to see us there they all felt that Novell was cool again. Open source has such a cool factor attached to it that I guess it rubs off on other people. That was truly gratifying as they were grateful. Even one local guy in Salt Lake City, on the street, asked me if novell was "bankrupt" and I said it was "alive and kicking", the guy seemed truly happy about that saying that "that is positive energy".
 
The analyst community got it. One financial analyst asked if "1- Novell was taking a leadership position in open source 2- if it was big enough to pull it off". It was kind of funny to see the Novell execs struggle with that one. I mean as far as soft ball questions go, that was a soft ball. And yet, they struggled. Had it been me I would have jumped and said "yeah! and you bet yeah!". The true answer is "yes and no, but it doesn't matter". I mean between the acquisitions of Suse, and ximian novell is clearly taking a leadership position. Also because Novell is not alone in backing Jboss it doesn't depend just on Novell for this to succeed, the ecosystem includes the likes of HP. A better question would have been "is the ecosystem big enough to pull this through" and the answer there is yes.
 
Anyway, they also treated us like royalty, taught us a lesson on how to treat your partners and customers (we really felt special) and it was all in all a very enjoyable 2 days. I don't know if it was something with the air, or Salt Lake City itself or the way they treated us, but I felt truly happy and at peace walking through the streets. An overwhelming feeling I hadn't felt in 15 years. It was good.
 
Tada,
 
marcf