[rescue] Novell Netware

[Liam Proven]

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 at 15:30, Patrick Giagnocavo <patrick at zill.net> wrote:
>
> What killed Novell Netware were 2 things:

> 1.  Microsoft wrote a Netware connector that allowed NT to share Netware
print queues and file services and avoid the per-user licensing fees of
Netware.  This killed Netware's cash cow business model.

I don't think that is correct.

I used this extensively at the time, from NT 3.1 onwards.

The Novell client is the reason NT 3.1 was called "3.1" when it was
really version 1.0 -- MS had a license from Novell to implement stuff
according to Novell wire protocols, but only for a product named
"Windows 3.1".

Novell didn't take NT seriously -- partly because it had been burned
by the OS/2 fiasco -- and did not have an NT client available when NT
launched. MS had to write its own.

I used it and it worked fine but it did not allow you to violate
Netware licensing in my experience. If your Netware box only allowed 5
connections, say, then that was 5 connected clients, be they from DOS
or Windows NT or Macs or whatever.

> 2. People figured out that VARs loved Netware because it was arcane enough
to generate big $$$ in consulting. I recall even in 1994 having to pay
$85/hour in Pennsylvania for NW consultants; and you needed either expensive
NW trained IT staff or you paid for consulting.

Well, that's arguably true, yes. :-) You did need a bit more a clue to
do Netware stuff. Windows made it a lot easier.

> You needed to re-compile (well, re-link) the DOS/Win3.1 drivers separately
for each network card and you had to give the proper hex address (ISA cards)
or the drivers wouldn't work.
>

Yes but that too was normal for the time. When I equipped fleets of
clients, they all had the same NIC at the same settings so it was very
easy. Put the client on a floppy, go around the new PCs, copy it into
place and insert into CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT and job done.

It was easier than the MS client and used less conventional RAM.
XMSNETX & EMSNETX were a big help too.

> Once you could sort-of click your way through NT menus and discover what you
needed to know... NW was finished.

Well, yes. :-(

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