Novell is turning to the community to help develop the next version of the SuSE Linux distribution and drive uptake of Linux at the grass roots level.

The company announced on Tuesday it had posted code for SuSE Linux 10 online at http://opensuse.org, for review and testing by community based developers.

Announcing the SuSE Linux project at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, Novell said it would "provide a place where developers can advance the state of the art of Linux." The project mirrors Red Hat's Fedora Project.

David Patrick, Novell's Linux, open source and services vice president and general manager, said the SuSE Linux project meant Novell was opening up the front end of its SuSE Linux development process. The first SuSE Linux 10 release candidate is scheduled to appear on September 9, according to Novell.

Novell also used LinuxWorld to announce an expanded reseller and joint-support agreement with MySQL AB and a joint development and delivery deal with VMware.

Under its agreement with MySQL, Novell will sell subscriptions to the MySQL Network, which provides certified MySQL software, updates, upgrades, alerts and access to the MySQL knowledge base. The VMware deal will see the companies develop server consolidation, migration and maintenance offerings for Novell users.

Also on the partnering front, Novell announced the first members of its Market Start program. Astaro, GroundWork, InsysnQ, Lumen Software, Pentaho and SugarCRM have all signed-up to receive marketing, channel and support under Market Start. ®