05.25.08

^{Gemini version available ♊︎}

Pondering Novell Mono and DRM

Posted in DRM, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, SLES/SLED at 12:30 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Novell’s chief booster in Linux Magazine appears to be pushing Mono a little further at the moment, either for the sake of Microsoft Linux.NET©, or maybe just innocently enough because he likes it.

Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier takes Banshee’s 1.0 alpha for a spin to see if it can handle the competition. Verdict? Banshee stacks up with the best of them for media playback.

This might bring some old issues back to mind.

With Moonlight striving to be feature-compatible w.r.t. Silverlight, one has to wonder when — not if — Microsoft DRM will enter the Mono universe and maybe intrude programs like Banshee too. We pondered these possibilities before because if it ever materialises, then we may find ourselves handling the toxic combination of DRM and software patents, which Richard Stallman persistently warns about, including in this new interview:

Kichu Mubarak: What according to you are the largest challenges faced by Free software movement?

RMS says: “The biggest threat comes from laws that prohibit distribution of certain free software. Some countries have laws prohibiting software that enables users to overcome Digital Restrictions Management. Some countries allow software techniques and structures to be patented. Both of those laws have the effect of censoring free software.

Remember that Microsoft admits loving DRM. Not only this; it fights for it, along with partners. By association, needn’t Novell learn to love it too? If not sooner, then later. Why is it that everyone seems asleep at the wheel? █

“In this business, by the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re gone.”

–Bill Gates

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