11.29.06
Posted in OpenSUSE at 4:26 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Dana Gardner shrewdly points out that Novell has developed a culture of secrecy, which in its own right justifies some of the criticism that’s directed at the so-called Open Source company.
Based on the Microsoft-Novell deal and its fallout, the entire industry is getting a close look at how open technology communities and companies work, according to Gardner. “The notion that a vendor can have a secret or fuzzy pact with another vendor doesn’t work when the community is instant and global and seamless,” he said. “You need to be pretty open and thoughtful about your announcements.” The same factors served to minimize recent industry concerns about Microsoft’s vague claims of intellectual property rights to Linux, which were the cause of some disharmony between the two software giants last week. “If you’re going to work in a community, you need to recognize you’re exposed,” Gardner said. “Sleight of hand doesn’t work, and ambiguity will be exposed and discussed.”
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Posted in Debian, Intellectual Monopoly, Microsoft, Novell at 4:14 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Whether it’s a reasonable assessment of not, that’s what Roblimo seems to suggest.
I also worry as much as anyone about Novell cozying up to Microsoft. Not many software companies lay down with that particular lion and walk away with their lambskin coats intact. Perhaps Novell will, but in a match between predator and prey I tend to bet on the predator. Call me silly or call me a realist; your name-calling will not hurt me — especially if I stay far, far away from Novell in case I become dependent on its products and they all start sporting a Microsoft logo (and carrying Microsoft-style usage restrictions) one day. Even Ubuntu, much though I love it in everyday use, seems to have problems with Free Software Purity. So I guess I need to turn to Debian… Microsoft is apparently getting ready to do something with Linux. We don’t know what, but if the company’s past history is any guide it won’t be pleasant. Novell either is or isn’t involved, and may or may not survive its attempt to cuddle up with The Beast in its den, so I must avoid it, too.
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Posted in Microsoft, Novell at 3:50 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
As Shane has just pointed out, to Novell, Hula is no more. Allow me to elaborate. The Hula project, one of the most promising among Novell’s Open Source initiatives, has been axed for a reason. This probably didn’t require much persuasion from Microsoft, either.
The quick synopsis is, Novell no longer has anyone working full-time on Hula. As a team we have spent some time looking at where the Hula project is and the opportunities in the market and in the end we had to conclude that we couldn’t justify investing at the same level in Hula going forward. So those of us who have been developing Hula full-time will be moving on to other roles and to other parts of the company.
This particular death knell reminds me of Microsoft’s recent deal with A9. It brought down services from A9 that competed with Microsoft directly or indirectly. This is not based solely on word of mouth. Reporters have cited competition with Microsoft services as the reason why A9 services had to be halted and their operation/maintenance retracted entirely. That happened just a couple of months ago. The aggressive new strategy appears to involved acquisition of/partnership with competitors, which in turn takes down competing projects (services and products).
Novell has turned its back on commitments to Open Source projects. I advice the OpenOffice team to find a new home because the only projects that I see surviving or flourishing is Mono (.Net). It does not affect the cash cows and it gives Microsoft control over developers in both worlds.
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Posted in Novell at 3:47 am by Shane Coyle
Now that they are partners, apparently Novell sees no reason to compete with Microsoft’s Exchange, and has pulled support for the HULA project:
There have been questions recently about the status of the Hula project, and I apologize for the silence while things have been sorted out on Novell’s end.
The quick synopsis is, Novell no longer has anyone working full-time on Hula…
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Posted in FUD, Microsoft, Novell, Ron Hovsepian, Steve Ballmer at 2:27 am by Shane Coyle
In an interview with Computerworld, Ron Hovsepian gives some background on the genesis and workings of the Microsoft-Novell deal. Hovsepian states that the deal began in search of virtualization, and that initially Microsoft’s position was that Linux could be virtualized within Windows, but not Windows within Linux.
Also, a little more on the motivation behind the deal, besides interoperability I suppose:
All I cared about was, I lost a deal with a large retailer to Microsoft for the first time about 12 or 18 months ago. It was going to be an all-Linux deal, and I lost it because they were unduly influenced, in my opinion, to be fearful of these [IP and indemnity issues]. From my point of view that was really too bad, because Linux lost. Then I watched it happen three more times.
Apparently it is a good thing that Ron hit the delete button on his Open Letter to the Community, since he refuses to accuse Microsoft of spreading Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (words he apparently initially intended to use), actually saying that Microsoft has been “operating genuinely” at the executive level in regards to their IP statements.
Do you think Microsoft is spreading a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt about the risk of IP violations if companies adopt Linux?
They were sharing their position in the marketplace as they saw it through their lens.
Funny how it isn’t FUD when you are in the unique position to benefit from Microsoft’s fearmongering about potential “IP” violations in Linux. Hovsepian also said that he was “disappointed” by Ballmer’s “Undisclosed Balance Sheet” statement, but did not want to overreact since he knows how things can be taken out of context.
One topic Hovsepian had little to comment on was the upcoming GPL3, and the possibility that it will isolate Novell from the very community from which they derive their product. But, Richard Stallman did have some more to say regarding Novell and GPL3:
Stallman said the FSF would have no hesitation in using GPLv3 to nobble the deal. “Definitely! This deal is a threat to the freedom of the free software community, because its effect is to make GPL-covered software non-free in practical terms,” he said.
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Posted in Deception, FUD, Intellectual Monopoly, Microsoft, Novell, Patent Covenant, Patents, Ron Hovsepian at 1:09 am by Shane Coyle
According to an article at the Linux Beacon, the original wording of the Novell Open Letter to the Community contained a harsher rebuff of the FUD spewed by Microsoft in the days following the announcement of the deal:
The funny bit is that Novell chopped out a whole chunk of paragraph five in the letter. Here is how it was originally written, and the red ink is what is missing on the bit published on the Novell site:
“We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. To claim otherwise is to further sow fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and does not offer a fair basis for competition. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents. We strongly object to the usage of our agreement to suggest that members of the Linux community owe Microsoft any remunerations.“
I especially am interested in the fact that the part about how Mr. Ballmer’s claims do not “offer a fair basis for competition” found their way to the cutting room floor, I wonder who edited or proofread the document and had final say, is it the same mysterious moderators from the OpenSUSE IRC chat the other day?
Nov 27 12:23:18 < JBarr-OSTG > who are the moderators?
...
Nov 27 12:23:33 < hd41 > We can't really comment on that.
Update: Also check out the Q&A with Ron Hovsepian article for further spin regarding whether or not Novell feels that Microsoft is engaging in a FUD campaign.
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Posted in Humour, Microsoft, Novell, Patent Covenant at 12:33 am by Shane Coyle
Bruce Perens has written an allegorical piece that is useful in explaining the Novell-Microsoft deal to the general public.
Once upon a time there was a software company called Novell. Novell had a friend “Big Mike” who was always getting in trouble with the law, but he was strong and had a big business. Big Mike was making big noises, threatening to beat up Novell’s customers. So, Novell made a financial deal with Big Mike so that he’d promise not to beat up Novell’s customers, but would instead threaten the customers of all of Novell’s competitors.
If you want to hear what happens to Novell and Big Mike, head on over to Bruce’s site: technocrat.net for the thrilling conclusion…
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11.28.06
Posted in Courtroom, Deals, Microsoft, Novell, SCO at 3:51 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Paul Murphy from ZDNet speculates that one mysterious part of the deal, namely distribution of SUSE by Microsoft, will actually work to Microsoft’s advantage.
Strategically this is pre-positioning for a strike at IBM in anticipation of an SCO settlement, but it’s also something else: a case of winning with the right hand, while winning with the left too.
I will let you judge this for yourselves.
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