Why NetWare client for Linux isn't shipping with Novell Linux Desktop

ncpfs is an open source utility ncpfs which ships with many distributions of Linux. This is a command line file system access tool for Novell Core Protocol (NCP) based file systems (i.e., NetWare).

A similar tool has been available from N-iX Software Development Team, a German company that's part of Newcomp Computersystem. N-iX' tool is also an NCP redirector, rather than an actual client. Turns out both ncpfs and N-iX have a role to play in the new NetWare client for Linux providing both the source of the solution as well as the major part of the problem.

Novell's engineers, working with N-iX are leveraging the open source re-director, ncpfs, to create the client, which will come in two parts: a server-side and a client-side.

The server-side is being done in Provo, and is - in most respects - complete. The client-side is being jointly worked on with N-iX, incorporating N-iX' work as well as ncpfs. It's the login/credentialing part that's the sticking point.

RSA Security, which licenses its BSAFE encryption library to Novell, won't allow Novell to use it in an open source product. According to an RSA spokesman: "RSA Security helps companies secure their applications with RSA BSAFE encryption software and has secured more than a billion applications worldwide. The company does not sell RSA BSAFE products with an open source license in order to keep the integrity of the application that is being secured." This left Novell in a bit of a quandary - use the RSA library and make the client "closed source", or be true to its new-found "open source" religion and find another way to do the encryption.

This isn't a trivial choice because Novell's authorization and authentication security is among the best in the industry. Any changes could present problems. Newcomp and the N-iX team came to the rescue. They're developing a Linux PAM (Pluggable Authentication Module) for the client-side part of the NetWare client for Linux. Development time, testing time and evaluation - i.e., the need to get it right - meant that this client couldn't be ready to go with the Novell Linux Desktop. Somehow, it does give me a "warm and fuzzy" feeling that Novell is taking the time to get it right. Good show.