After endless procrastination and issues, Novell sets a date for reporting their financial results.
Novell, Inc. will issue a press release providing an overview of financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2007 on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 4pm ET.
Until then, Novell financial health will remain somewhat of an enigma.
The FSF‘s Brett Smith confirms what has argued repeatedly for the past few months (even earlier this week). The FUD machine is working at full force. The victim this time around is the new version of the GNU Public Licence. Whether Novell is just passively or even actively involved is something which would be hard to tell. Maybe it is not involved at all, but where is its criticism of Microsoft’s actions? Passive convenience perhaps? Silent obedience and servitude?
Here is the revelant fragment of text:
In the past few weeks, we’ve gotten a good sample of the tactics Microsoft is going to use against GPLv3. The so-called Association for Competitive Technology has been on the warpath. GPLv3 is an unenforceable contract, they say. You can’t negotiate it. It’s going to send us back to the bad old days of technology when different pieces of software couldn’t talk to each other. Apparently, their plan is to say anything they can think of that sounds scary, and then see what sticks.
Nothing good ever came of underestimating Microsoft’s power, but I think this is a pretty good sign for us. I don’t think they’re fooling anybody who honestly has an open mind about this subject. And once you see other big companies releasing software under GPLv3, I think that’ll do a lot to dispel the FUD right there.
Tivoization is addressed in another new article which discusses the GPLv3 and some of its lesser-known effects.
Currently, the Free Software Foundation (FSF), which produces the evolving GPL, is trying to create a version 3 of its license that is expected to supplant prior versions, including the current version 2.1. Version 3 will attempt to address two knotty issues.
The first is called tivoization, which is a word coined from the company name Tivo. Tivo uses free software and complies with the
GPL but the gadgets it makes will only run programs that bear an acceptable digital signature.
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While many of us appreciate de Icaza’s hard work and dedication, his latest promise might do more harm than good to GNU/Linux. As many of you know, Microsoft wants to replace Flash with its own technology, which could in turn be spread all over the Internet through obedient Web developers. But here’s the snag: now, you see, Novell’s promise and loyalty to Microsoft has the same effect on GNU/Linux as that which support for OOXML had on ECMA and the ISO. Novell helps Microsoft gain power and eliminate open source/competitive threats.
Here is a short article which outlines Novell’s plan.
The Mono open-source project will create a Linux version of Silverlight by the end of year, said Miguel de Icaza, a Novell vice president and head of Mono.
Do bear in mind that, due to legal risks, certain distributors of Linux avoid Mono. Its means that Red Hat Linux, for example, would not ‘enjoy’ the ‘support’ of this so-called ‘Flash killer’. Once again, Novell lends Microsoft a hand in Microsoft’s fight against its rivals.
Novell’s Linux is becoming more like a the Windows World of the Linux Universe. There is no reason to celebrate this. If you haven’t much knowledge of Mono’s and its risks, then we strongly recommend that you have a look at the archives. Novell seeks platform convergence where Microsoft sets the rules. It is Microsoft that controls (and owns the intellectual property of) the APIs. Novell is being absorbed by the Microsoft Way, rather than encourage true and open collaboration where industry sets the standards.
Update: In de Icaza’s defence, according to the following article, he called for more action and involvement from Microsoft.
Gutmans and co. believe the best way towards platform ubiquity and interoperability is by open sourcing code. Fellow panelist Miguel de Icaza, co-founder of Mono and start-up Ximian, bought by Novell, called on Microsoft to “give” more.
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Representatives from both Red Hat and Novell each lauded Dell’s decision to meet customer demand for preinstalled GNU⁄Linux, but both companies seemed somewhat eager to explain why their particular distributions were not chosen.
Novell’s Justin Steinman went so far as to say that Ubuntu lacked "enterprise quality" support options, making it suitable for the "technical enthusiast" community. Steinman, in his best Larry Ellison impersonation, also indicated that Novell is in "serious conversations with several leading hardware OEMs" about preloading SLED for "broad enterprise use".
“As proponents of open source and Linux, we’re happy to see Linux being preloaded onto consumer desktops.”
But Steinman then downplayed its significance. “I wouldn’t necessarily refer to the Dell-Ubuntu deal as ‘major.’ Dell is only going to load Ubuntu on three machines targeted at the technical consumer market, and the only support option available will be through online technical self-help forums, which will be monitored by the community,” he said.
However, Jane Silber, Canonical’s director of operations in London, told eWEEK that the company will provide commercial Ubuntu support for customers who choose to buy this through the Dell Web site when available.
But, for Novell, Dell’s announcement is nothing more than the loading of Linux onto desktops aimed at the technical enthusiast community—the same community of people who voted on Dell’s IdeaStorm Web site. These are not Novell’s target customers for the Linux desktop, Steinman said.
“Our target customer is the enterprise business user, and so we’ve focused SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop squarely at the business market,” Steinman said.
“We believe the Linux desktop is ready for mainstream deployment in the enterprise, and that means you need to have enterprise quality support—something that Ubuntu does not offer.”
Novell, Steinman then claimed, was in “serious conversations with several leading hardware OEMs” about preloading a Linux desktop that will be targeted at broad enterprise use.
“When we release SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on a preloaded machine, it will come with the enterprise support that our customers require to run their businesses. Stay tuned for more details,” he said.
Oh, we’ll stay tuned Justin – details are what we’ve been waiting for, with bated breath, since November 2nd 2006.
Update (Roy): Novell’s PR blog offers a significantly more tactful statement on the matter. There is no implicit ridicule of the rival.
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Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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