Bonum Certa Men Certa

Companies Created by Former Microsoft Employees Rally Around Novell, (Pseud)Open Source

Small sunken boat



Summary: Companies to watch out for and their relationship with Novell and Microsoft

THIS IS A LIST OF NEWS AND OBSERVATIONS about companies which serve Microsoft. They all have something in common. They have roots in Microsoft.

Likewise



Likewise is close to Microsoft and it is also made up from its employees. According to the following press release (also here, here, and here), the ongoing relationship with Novell tightens a bit.

Likewise announced today that its Likewise Enterprise offering will ship as part of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 from Novell.


There is of course a journal like CIOL to just present the press release and pretend it was an original article. Kristin Shoemaker, who has an indirect relationship with Novell, wrote about that too.

This is in no small part why Likewise's software, geared to simplify managing and securing mixed networks using Active Directory services, is now being offered to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 users. The Enterprise version of Likewise's software will be integrated with the SUSE Desktop and available through SUSE 11 repositories.


John Fontana has an article about this in a few IDG domain, all going under the headline "Novell's SLED 11 to ship with Active Directory gateway technology." They are essentially paying Microsoft for this, but the payments go to Bellevue-based former Microsoft employees. This helps Microsoft control the price of GNU/Linux (namely elevate the cost and thus make it less attractive ). Why can't they just use open standards?

Xenocode



Xenocode is a company filled with (former) Microsoft employees and since Microsoft is an open source xenophobe, this by no means helps. In its latest press release, Xenocode mentions its relationship with Novell that may involve software patents (or just licensing of proprietary code).

Xenocode also supports delivery of applications to enterprise desktops via Active Directory, LANDesk Management Suite, and BMC Configuration Management. Xenocode technology has been licensed by Novell and is available as part of Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization.


Black Duck



A couple of days ago we wrote about Black Duck, a company created by a Microsoft guy to produce proprietary software that capitalises on free/open source software. Its latest move with Microsoft might have it characterised as somewhat of a "bridge opener" -- that is -- an entity immersing itself in the open source world and then inviting Microsoft to become part of it in its embrace, extend and extinguish fashion. Novell is like that too. But here is another interesting observation.

Microsoft employees are now writing in the Seattle P-I (not just ghostwriting) and here is one Microsoft employee publishing to say that "CodePlex Okayed by Duck."

As Dana Blankenhorn puts it, "Black Duck calls Microsoft open source mainstream." In addition he points out:

Tony Rahman, a Microsoft program manager writing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reader blog, says “each quarter it seems more leaders and their teams are onboard with the new attitude of cooperation, openness, and transparency.”

Believe him? Or is this post going to ignite yet-another Microsoft flame war?


This is just business as usual to Microsoft.

3CX



There is a new press release proudly going under the headline "Why a Windows based PBX trumps a Linux based appliance or proprietary PBX."

Is it a study?

Is this a fact?

No, it's just a press release from a Microsoft Gold-certified partner issuing whitepapers that are hostile to GNU/Linux. They sell Windows of course. Follow the money. It usually boils down to someone's interests because objective studies don't write themselves.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Un-cancelled the Best People, Just in Time for the Big 4-0
Mr. Oliva should have been there all along (since 2019)
Most "Modern" Technology Makes You Slower and Dumber
Because proprietary software makes you worse off
"What Comes After Free Software?" Wrongly Insinuates We've Reached the Goal (Prison is Not the Goal)
The oil tycoons use similar tactics against environmentalists, giving them fake "wins"
Making More Work Space
I learned the hard way that less is more in circumstances where more means distraction
MAHA is a Lie, Public Officials Never Valued Citizens' Health (They Still Value Private Businesses, Their Sponsors)
Reject demagogues
New Techrights Turns 2
Today starts the third year of the SSG-based Techrights
 
Gemini Links 24/09/2025: Gemlogs and Politics
Links for the day
Links 23/09/2025: Japan Limits Uses of Skinnerboxes ('Smartphones') With Toxic "Apps", Fentanylware (TikTok) Tapped by "MAGAts"
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Has Just Been Sued (by Their Own Clients!)
Vladimir and Alla Yanpolsky sued Brett Wilson LLP in BL-2025-001167 at the end of last week
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part II - UK SLAPPs for Americans, SLAPPs for Profit
Brett Wilson LLP has a track record of this kind
Mayday: Optus emergency calling crisis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/09/2025: Massive Data Breach, Slop Versus Productivity, and Vista 11 Update Breaks Things Again
Links for the day
Code of Censorship
Extortion is peace
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Press Kit for the Weekend After Next Weekend (40th Anniversary)
miles better than social [sic] media [sic] quips, moderated by narcissists and oil tycoons.
Microsoft Had Two Waves of Mass Layoffs This Month (That We Know of) and It'll Get Worse for Microsoft Soon
Will the axe fall again by month's end?
Gemini Links 23/09/2025: Happy Equinox, Photronic Arts, and Perception Cognition
Links for the day
Lessons We've Learned After 17 Years of American Hosting
GAFAM is "all-in" with the "Trump agenda"
Back to Normal Now, We Plan to Do More In-Depth Series (or Multi-part Stories)
Articles (or series thereof) that contain philosophy are important to us
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 22, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 22, 2025
Microsoft Media is Panicking Amid Mass Layoffs Every Month, H-1B Fees, and "Seattle’s Tech Scene in Trouble"
In "late stage Microsoft", copyleft becomes proprietary
The Next Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs Being Discussed Already
Red Hat is sort of disappearing the way Tivoli did
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025