Novell to Release Open Source LDAP Software Developer Kit to Speed Development of Directory-based Solutions on the Net

Novell, Inc., the leader in Net infrastructure software, today announced the planned March release of its LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) Libraries for C software developer kit (SDK). The new SDK will speed the development of directory-based solutions for the enterprise and the Internet, making it easy for developers to incorporate the LDAP standard into their applications and leverage Novell's NDS eDirectory to manage critical e-business relationships.

Based on open source code from OpenLDAP, the Novell LDAP Libraries for C SDK provides standards-based NDS eDirectory access to developers creating directory-based applications. The SDK lets developers enjoy the lower entry costs and widespread operability that comes from developing to established Internet standards.

"Novell is committed to supporting industry standards for the Internet," said Dave Shirk, Novell vice president of product marketing. "Publishing the LDAP Libraries for C SDK as open source gives Novell and its partners maximum flexibility in meeting customer needs, as well as accelerating LDAP innovation on the Internet."

The open source code used in Novell's LDAP SDK is based on the OpenLDAP C Client code base and is governed by the OpenLDAP Public License, which is nonrestrictive and reduces cost and risk to businesses that want to use LDAP for mission-critical applications and services. Keeping with open source practices, code enhancements will be contributed back to the OpenLDAP project under the OpenLDAP license. The LDAP SDK will be released as part of the Novell Developer Kit (NDK).

Kurt Zeilenga, chief architect of the OpenLDAP Project, said, "Global adoption of technologies requires that developers have access to open and reusable code. We are pleased that Novell has chosen to use OpenLDAP software and has made its changes available to the community so all may benefit. We look forward to working with Novell in furthering open source LDAP software."

Novell's third-party developers will benefit from the advantages of adding LDAP compliance to their products as well as being able to contribute to the code base. "Novell's open source LDAP SDK is ideal for our customers and our core business," said Rick Dunn, strategic alliance manager with IKON Office Solutions Technology Services. "We plan to aggressively use Novell's LDAP SDK to build directory-enabled solutions as well as contributing to Novell's open source project."

Today's announcement was made from Novell's annual Global Partner Summit, taking place this week in Phoenix, Ariz. The Summit brings Novell senior management and technical leaders together with more than 250 executives from more than 100 leading companies in hardware, software, consulting, systems integration and services. The Summit is a working forum to collectively develop new initiatives for delivering Net services and applications as well as identifying new points of entry for Novell products and services.

NDS eDirectory enables businesses to save time and money by centrally managing every user, computer platform, application and device on the network and on the Internet. E-business is facilitated with NDS eDirectory as it manages and leverages the digital profiles and user identity information in e-business applications that make the Internet more personal and profitable for businesses, their partners and their customers.

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the broadest supplier of Net infrastructure software used to integrate and manage the diverse information resources of private business networks and the Internet. Novell's worldwide channel, consulting, developer, education and technical support programs are the most extensive in the network computing industry.

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