Bonum Certa Men Certa

Already-exposed Microsoft Shill Oozes VMware Poison

And Novell helps Microsoft demote VMware to become an anti-GNU/Linux hyper-gateway

This is a continued exploration of Microsoft's aggressive (if not corrupt) fight for hypervisor control [1, 2]. Microsoft refers to such things as "Slog" or "Jihad" and today we'll show that the usual suspects are personally involved in seizing the foundations of many servers.



As pointed out in the news [1, 2] (scroll down to the very bottom), virtualisation in growing more important in the back rooms. Even Red Hat insists so. According to this article from IDG -- an article about Microsoft and Novell grouping together against everybody else -- it is indeed something whose potential has yet to be fully exploited.

At a virtualization launch event Sept. 8, Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's server and tools business, said, “It is still early days. Only about 12% of servers are virtualized.” He also said that Microsoft foresees a future world where virtualization is the norm: “It will be used across all the servers and desktops in a business,” he said.


Microsoft must view this as an opportunity to shut out rivals. DRM and the MBR are other such opportunities that Microsoft misses or is unable to over-abuse due to regulation. Instead, in this particular case, it's rallying for partners.

Novell's new pet, rPath, is also getting close to Microsoft while Microsoft's 'analyst' allies [1, 2, 3] speak of the potential.

Leading analyst firm Gartner predicts virtualization will be the highest-impact trend changing IT infrastructure and operations through 2012. A virtual appliance is an application combined with just enough operating system (JeOS) for it to run optimally in any virtualized environment. In addition to the Windows platform, rPath supports all the major virtualization platforms including VMware, Citrix Systems, Parallels and Virtual Iron.


The most appalling thing which happens at the moment isn't to be attributed to IDG (IDC being another party which is sponsored by Microsoft) or even Gartner. It's actually Microsoft's talking point and long-time poison pen, Maureen O'Gara. She's attacking VMware insanely while defending Microsoft and Novell, as usual. Here is some proof [1, 2] showing she is a shill for Microsoft. She got caught, so it's no matter of speculation and she has already tried relentlessly to attack Linux using SCO.

"I notice she upgraded her picture recently, she appears to be growing younger," says one anonymous reader.

Then come examples of the usual FUD she receives from Redmond and publishes. "They type it up in Redmond, then it's repeated verbatim in the press," says the reader. Being familiar with this one particular poison pen, he adds some examples like:

"Old UNIX guard attempting to hijack Linux to go after Sun."

"Linux is only attacking UNIX."

"VM is only useful to save on electricity."

To give just a sample of the latest Microsoft/O'Gara a series of attacks on VMware (via 'the press'):



Even the choice of images drips with bias, not just the headlines and phrases like "Take that Google Docs!" It's FUD of a very high degree and it's just like the slog we used to warn about:

Microsoft dirty tactics



"Ideally, use of the competing technology becomes associated with mental deficiency, as in, "he believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and OS/2." Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition's technology part of the mythology of the computer industry. We want to place selection pressure on those companies and individuals that show a genetic weakness for competitors' technologies, to make the industry increasingly resistant to such unhealthy strains, over time."

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]



In a previous post about this slog against VMware we have already criticised Sys-con for excessive FUD, such as premature predictions of death. This slog against VMware was mentioned in the IRC channel as well. Such enormous amount of anti-VMware poison in Sys-con is intended to erode customer confidence and infect the minds of other journalists, who peer through their news feeds.

This new one is a good example:

Sys-con: Will VMware Still Exist in Five Years?

Here is a new Microsoft virtualisation praise from Sys-con. Must be a coincidence, right? Not quite as bad as InternetNews with "Microsoft Charges Ahead in Virtualization". It's all about those headlines and the Microsoft-friendly ZDNet is one of the worst in that regard. Larry Dignan proves it with "Microsoft Hyper-V to VMware: We have you surrounded". If the argument is repeated often enough, it's hard not to believe it. Microsoft knows it is well behind in this game, especially based on technical merit. In reality, it's just more bad news for Microsoft with the following new setback.

Microsoft Backtracks on Live Migration, Again



The delay means the software giant -- which is striving to win favor for its virtualization solution -- still lacks features long available from rivals.


It has been just vapourware or wishful thinking all along. Having already postponed this product's release and castrated promised features from it, they pretended to have made it available "ahead of schedule". A more moderate headline actually came from Forbes, for a change.

Novell Enters



Going back to Sys-con, it's O'Gara who is welcoming Novell to Microsoft's virtualisation table (because they use Hyper-V, of course). Could the bias or agenda be any clearer?

Microsoft 'talking point' Ina Fried, whose latest FUD against GNU/Linux we mentioned quite recently [1, 2, 3], is also propping up this treasonous relationship between Microsoft and Novell.

The pair announced that they will jointly support a virtualization scenario in which Suse Linux is running as a guest operating system under Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization.


There's also involvement in this article.

Colin Barker reported on Citrix and Microsoft ZDNet.co.uk, while Tim Ferguson reported on Sun Microsystems for Silicon.com. Ina Fried reported for News.com about Microsoft's arrangement with Novell.


Microsoft's next-door press neglects to mention the negatives of this marriage (the volunteer developers don't count as much as shareholders). It sees that as too redundant to be noteworthy, but that's hardy unusual. It only adds some fear-inspiring paragraph to end its coverage:

Microsoft's collaboration with Novell is also associated with intellectual property assurances. Those assurances are highly controversial in the open source Linux world. Microsoft essentially promises not to sue companies for patent violations when they buy Novell's Linux through Microsoft's certificate program.


There's more about it in the Indian press. Once again, criticism is missing.

Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. are announcing the availability of a joint virtualisation solution optimised for customers running mixed-source environments.


From Boston:

Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced Thursday that they have developed technology that allows businesses to run Waltham, Mass.-based Novell’s open-source operating system on Microsoft servers.


Jennifer LeClaire in NewsFactors writes

Evidencing the ongoing collaboration between two formerly bitter rivals, Microsoft and Novell on Tuesday announced a joint virtualization solution optimized for customers running mixed-source environments.


This also appeared in CIO Today.

From Information Week:

Novell may be suing Microsoft for allegedly conspiring to kill WordPerfect, but that's not stopping the companies from joining forces on other fronts.

[...]

Meanwhile, Novell's antitrust suit against Microsoft is proceeding. Novell accuses Microsoft of using monopolistic tactics to drive WordPerfect and Quattro out of the market. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court gave Novell the go ahead to continue the litigation.


Sys-con reckons that Microsoft might buy Novell because of this lawsuit. Did Microsoft tell them something again? Yesterday or the day before that Sys-con wonodered whether Microsoft will buy Citrix, suggesting that it's possible.

However unlikely, according to Microsoft insiders, Forbes speculates that Microsoft might eventually buy Citrix, which currently has a market cap of $6.4 billion.


That would give Microsoft full ownership of Xen, which it already pretty much controls by proxy [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Citrix and Microsoft are still getting closer, as just reported by ZDNet.

Vnunet.com was wrongly spinning the deal with Microsoft as "acceptance" rather than a betrayal or intrusion.

The deal also marks the latest chapter in the ongoing partnership between Microsoft and Novell. The two first joined forces with a licensing deal in 2006 that many viewed as Microsoft's official acceptance of Linux.

Last month, the two reaffirmed that partnership when Microsoft agreed to spend another $100m on new SUSE licences. Microsoft said that the new deal represents significant progress in the partnership.


Pete Judge falters on some points, but he does at least emphasise that Microsoft only supports SUSE and that it indicates deficiencies exist.

Microsoft and Novell have announced that Novell's Suse Linux will be supported as a guest under Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualisation product. However, some Linux users have said the deal only demonstrates the limited value of Microsoft's virtualisation offering.


Microsoft wants to control the 'pipes', deciding which software or operating system can run on top of Windows (and how well). Badly-performant GNU/Linux distributions and patent tax are key and here is a good new explanation of why that is.

When Microsoft finally released its long-awaited hypervisor technology, Hyper-V, it also announced a partnership agreement with Novell to offer support for Novell SUSE Enterprise Linux in the new server virtualization platform. However, for the Linux guest operating system to perform at its best, it needs additional components that Microsoft calls Linux Integration Components.


At the end of the day, there will always be many Microsoft voices drowning out the 'signal'. This includes 'analysts' like Yankee Group and Burton Group, who repeatedly sling mud at VMware [1, 2, 3. Both analysts have accepted Microsoft money (or favours) to produce a series of 'studies' which defame Microsoft's rivals using selective statistics and other such trickery.

It's only rather disappointing that the Linux Foundation funded those very same people at one stage, essentially feeding the same poison pen that stings them. They must not fight fire with fire because this leads to hypocrisy. They needn't pay attention to that fire, either.

Sadly for VMware, it does not equate or top Microsoft in terms of bad behaviour. And nice guys sometimes finish last.

This is not competition. It's a slog.

____ [1] Red Hat Outlook: Clouds and Virtualization Everywhere

Center of attention was Qumranet, the firm Red Hat agreed to acquire just last week for about US$107m. Best known for its KVM virtualization software, Red Hat sees the addition of the Qumranet technology helping to take it up against Microsoft -- the other company owning both operating system and virtualization components.


[2] Experts Agree (On Nothing) About Intersection of Cloud And Virtualization

Do two technology trends, the rise of server virtualization and the advance of cloud computing, go together like peanut-butter and jelly, or more like tunafish and pistachio nuts?

It depends on who you ask, but in general, virtualization is seen as complementary to cloud computing but not a necessity.


Recent Techrights' Posts

At Least 3 Richard Stallman Talks in Europe Confirmed So Far, Next Week in Rome There's Another
Dr. Stallman has not announced this yet
Rust is Eating Linux
That's a recipe for problems
Cindy Cohn (Executive Director of EFF) is a Millionaire, Earned Almost $30,000 Per Month Before Departing While the EFF Lost Money
EFF is "Big Business"
 
Evidence Contradicting Microsoft's Non-Denying Denials and Expectation of Many Layoffs Soon
"Microsoft has had this constant drip of layoffs for months."
The "AI Revolution" is Going Very Well, Right?
money that does not exist and alleged potential that is pure fiction
Links 06/10/2025: Scam Altman Himself Admits He Runs a Scam Based on a Bubble, US Administration Adopts “War From Within” Narrative to Crush Opposition/Dissent
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Fake Ubuntu 'Articles' and Google News Helps People Who Plagiarise Phoronix Using LLMs
Michael Larabel can't possibly be happy about that
6,000 Pages/Articles a Year
Today in one month from now the site turns 19
When Things Become So Ubiquitous That They're Almost Nameless
The notion or the concept of software freedom isn't tied to any particular brand or project, so it should still resonate
IDG Seems to Have Abandoned Sandra Henry Stocker's UNIX/Linux Column
Unless we hear otherwise or see some update/s, this may mark another death blow from IDG
Gemini Links 06/10/2025: Winter Nights and "Virtue Signaling"
Links for the day
Links 06/10/2025: Scientific Awards and Typhoon Matmo
Links for the day
IP Kat Gone Bonkers, Pushing Slop in Patents (Likely Illegal, With Severe Consequences)
AstraZenecaKat: "Last time, this Kat covered some practical steps on how to ensure client confidentiality when using AI tools (IPKat)."
Links 06/10/2025: Grokipedia as Malicious Slop, US 'Martial Law' a "New Normal"
Links for the day
Fake Economics and Clown Computing Circuses
who's gonna pay for these scams?
Nobel Prize in Economics Does Not Exist, It's Propaganda From Sveriges Riksbank
"It is that time of the year when it is important to remind people that there are no Nobel Prizes for professional wrestling, astrology, or economics"
Non-Denying Denial From Microsoft (Again) Regarding the End of XBox Consoles
It's kind of hilarious that even the site chosen by Microsoft to relay its BS, based on past loyalty, isn't quite buying it
Bringing Back Lost Articles From the 1990s: Microsoft Products Leave Door Open to NSA
Nothing has changed since then
When the Slop Bubble Pops People Will Say Richard Stallman Was Right (Again)
What was once known as Computer Science turned into "IT"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 05, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 05, 2025
Links 06/10/2025: Science, Hardware, and Andrej Babis Making a Comeback
Links for the day
Links 05/10/2025: Slow News Day and Wondering About the Canada Post Walkout
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/10/2025: Telnet Debugging and The Programmer’s Brain
Links for the day
More Than "Just a Rumour": XBox Seems to Have Just Died
At this point, why would any studio out there target or partner with XBox?
How to Tell Your Community, Project or Company is Being Infiltrated by Saboteurs
How to identify nefarious social engineering
The Fortieth Birthday of the FSF Made Us Extremely Happy
It feels like the 'hacker community' is regrouping to discuss things and prepare for the next Big Challenge
Chat Control 2 Them, Not 2 U
Follow the advice of Dr. Patrick Breyer
Mozilla: Throw Away Your "Old" PC and Enable "Digital Rights Management (DRM)"
This is heading in a bad direction
Controlling Our Computing for Another Forty Years
40 years of freedom
Motivational Small Place to Run Large Sites
We deem this scenery motivational and inspiring
Techrights' Text Version (Daily Bulletin) Turns Five This Month
our plain-text bulletins are turning 5 this month
We'll Continue Covering the Moribund OSI and Other Dysfunctional if Not Hostile Institutions
Stefano Maffulli's departure is due to his defection and due to him failing the mission in pursuit of money (his salary)
Microsoft XBox is Dying as More Retailers Stop Stocking It and Massive Layoffs Planned Again
Microsoft is circling down the drain
Links 05/10/2025: Lufthansa Layoffs (4,000) and More Spotify Woes (Aside From Massive Debt)
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation's Livestream Has Ended, Video/s Might be Online Next
I've asked whether they'll upload video of some of the event; I still wait for an answer
The Register MS Does Not Know the Difference Between Microsoft GitHub and GitLab
At the time of writing (October 5) the article from "Thu 2 Oct 2025" remains uncorrected
Linux and the Freedom Paradox
Linux is losing freedom if some external actors who only use Microsoft tools for development wrest control
"Bullshit Generators" (What RMS Calls LLMs) and Fake Images Already Target the FSF
Why does Google News promote fake articles about the FSF while omitting all the real ones?
Software Patents as a Bubble
Don't invest resources in hype; if you detect a bubble, run away from it
Links 05/10/2025: Political Leftovers, Climate Change, and Security Incidents
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 04, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 04, 2025
Watch the FSF Party Live (via Livestream)
It's in WebM format, which is widely supported by now
Advocacy of Software Freedom Changed, LUGs Became Less Relevant
The way we see it, support groups like LUGs sort of outlived their usefulness when it became easier to install GNU/Linux
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims or says can be trusted
When Microsoft "Integrates" Something With "AI" It Means It's Losing Money and Is Generally Hopeless
how did Bing fare after 36 months of LLM slop being hyped up as "replacement" for search?
Most Certificates Don't Improve Security, They Mostly Increase Downtime (for No Good Reason)
The 'Gemini sites' (capsules) are a growing force
The statCounter Site Has Data Integrity Problems
Maybe we'll get back to statCounter when its data becomes more "stable" again
10 Ways to Combat Software Patents
software patents are loathed also by proprietary software developers
"Just a Little Bit of Meat..."
Free software "absolutism" is not a radical stance, more so if the only "radical" belief the user possesses is that he or she must be in control of his or her software, and by extension his or her computer
Compromised by NVIDIA Proprietary Library
Meanwhile in Boston there are "[r]oundtable talk with FSF volunteers (both in-person and online)"
Red Hat is Ignoring the Free Software Community, It's a "Fortune 1000" Vendor
Red Hat's blog also participates a lot in promoting of Wall Street's latest pump-and-dump "AI" scheme
Free Software Foundation Party Has Begun
We shall be focusing a lot on software patents today
Former Head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan Knows Whatever Microsoft Touches Will Die
Just like Skype (as recently as months ago) [...] When Microsoft grabs things, or when it buys things, it almost never ends well
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About LibreOffice in Austria and Wine 10.16
very short
Links 04/10/2025: "attempted Coup" Noted in Facebook, Russia Kills Journalists via Drones
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Anesthesia and Baudpunk
Links for the day
How Software Patents Were Viewed or Their General Status Changed Over Time
A rough summary
Links 04/10/2025: "Privacy Harm Is Harm", Criticism Outlawed in US
Links for the day
Garmin Uses Linux for Some of the Garmin Products, Now It's Sued by Strava Using Software Patents
Software patents should never have been granted in the first place
Richard Stallman Will Give a Talk in Sweden in 6 Days
Dr. Stallman, despite his battle with cancer is still alive and mentally sharp
FSF Turns 40
We'll be focusing on patent-related topics this weekend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 03, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 03, 2025
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Distro Hopping and "Part Time"
Links for the day