06.24.09

Links 24/06/2009: Fedora Elections Over, HP’s TouchSmart Printers Use Linux

Posted in News Roundup at 4:25 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

Alexandro Colorado, international open source evangelist 06 (2004)

Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.

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Bill Gates on C# as “Key Element in Preventing Commodization by Linux”

Posted in Antitrust, Bill Gates, Database, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Oracle, Steve Ballmer at 10:34 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Insights from Bill Gates (and colleagues) on platform strategy

THE NEXT exhibit which we deal with is Exhibit PX06917 (2001) [PDF]. This relatively recent one has had OCR applied to the PDF. It is only 2-3 pages long (depending on whether one needs the attachment/s).

Let us just summarise a few key points. Microsoft is afraid of Java; very much afraid not only because it’s better, but also because of its support (with parity) for many distinguishable platforms. It’s not Windows-centric like .NET.

Bill Gates tells Jim Allchin and Steve Ballmer:

Our applications platform message is quite confused today. Pieces like CLR, WMI, MSMQ, XML runtime, Biztalk, MTS,IIS, ASP+, Load Balancing, Message bus, ,SOAP, UDDI and Yukon are not consistent and reinforcing. Basic standards like eventing, logging, and filtering have to be established. The disconnection of these products make our message when trying to win back the developers who like JAVA and J2EE very difficult especially when we have the limitation of being only on Windows and those technologies are supporled on many platforms by many companies. Although we have waited a long time for the shipment of VS with the URT that doesn’t give us anywhere near a complete consistent platform story.

The ‘smoking gun’ is probably this following bit which speaks about GNU/Linux:

We have to take a hard look at our tools and consider how to be a better high end solution. We have to spend a lot of money to make sure the openness of C# is well understood and that it is accepted at a level that allows our innovations to have traction.

I think that between Paul, Yuval and Eric’s group with leader from Rick Rashid we should be able to go through another iteration on this (like we did with NGWS) and come up with some clear answers.

The strength of this platform and the innovation around it is the key element in preventing commodization by Linux, our installed base and Network Appliance vendors.

Gates refers to Yuval Neeman, whose take on .NET inside Linux/UNIX can be inferred from this other antitrust exhibit and another appearance can be found in an antitrust exhibit that we disclosed yesterday. “Paul” might be Paul Flessner (not Paul Maritz), who wanted to "whack" Dell over GNU/Linux and “Eric” would be Eric Rudder, whom we last mentioned yesterday. As pointed out before, Rudder once said: “As many of you may know, we’ve actually kind of broadened the product portfolio of Visual Studio, targeting all the way from the low end with students and hobbyists, kind of competitive in that Linux space, making sure that every developer has a copy of .NET and is trained in writing .NET solutions. [...] I think it will really help us in our competition with open source.”

The text above is very relevant to the role of Mono. One of our readers warns that “the Mono guard seems to have started to undermine even Debian.” We will come to this at a later stage, or rather just return to it.

David Vaskevitch writes to Bill Gates, Jim Allchin, and Steve Ballmer with some attached papers, but he seems rather demoralised and afraid of Oracle too.

Having now sent these I have to admit I also feel pretty weird sending them. Weird and conflicted. On the one hand, I feel pretty deeply that if we don’t do what is described in these papers, and some of the others I’ve been writing, we will either a) not achieve our long term goals (platform adoption, business growth, developer wins, etc), or b) get into relatively serious trouble (never catch up with Oracle, not have the platform the biggest apps are wdtten on, miss key changes). All of that makes me want to write these papers, want to see them acted on. Then there’s the “on the other hand” ..

On the other hand I am now totally disconnected from pretty much everything to do with our platform. These papers are hard to write in a wide variety of ways: time consuming, energy draining, etc. And, being so disconnected from the platform, it means that most of what gets written in papers like this is just not going to happen. True of storage. True for distributed app support. True for things in general. So, I’m saying out loud, that I’m trying to figure out whether to even keep writing this stuff. Besides the fact that it might well not have much effect, chews up time, etc, it must be annoying for the people actually having to build this stuff, to have people off in other areas writing this kind of stuff down for them.

The next one I would have written was going to drill into the whole “distributed” and “application server” mess. But, I’d really appreciate feedback on whether it is good, bad, or indifferent, and why, to be writing in this vein…

The core of this exhibit is below, but there are also attachments which we may translate into plain text pretty soon, the reason being that if we are aiming to accumulate a searchable database of all the Comes vs Microsoft exhibits, it wouldn’t be complete without the attachments. They look like very interesting pieces of information. For instance, how about this little gem: “It’s our decision. Do we want to create the next revolution, fundamentally change the definition of the term database? So, others can start keeping up with us? Or do we want to stick to improving databases as we all know them today, and continue slowly catching up with everybody else?”

Embrace and extend? Making up one’s own pseudo standards? WinFS? Which choice did they eventually make? Whichever was obstructing competition more effectively? █

“At Microsoft I learned the truth about ActiveX and COM and I got very interested in it inmediately [sic].”

–Miguel de Icaza

Appendix: Comes vs. Microsoft – exhibit PX06917, as text

Read the rest of this entry »

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Further Signs That Novell Will Sell in Parts, Stock Rebounds

Posted in Finance, Novell, Rumour at 9:08 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Novell employees give more signs that sale of Novell assets is still on the table

ABOUT A DAY AGO, one former employee of Novell said that they should sell parts of the company. Based on prior reports [1, 2, 3], this appears to be Novell’s plan and one anonymous comment suggests that Novell has already engaged in this “behind the scenes”.

Based on a new update from the comments in CNET:

As I mentioned over on BNET (http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10002269/novell-considering-being-acquired/), Novell has phrased their denials carefully. They said to me that they had “no current plans to sell the company.” When I pointed out that this statement wouldn’t cover a consideration to sell, early stage negotiations, or sales of parts of the company, the spokesman said, “I stand by the statement.” I read that as interested and open if not closing a deal today, which is far different from saying that it’s not for sale.

That is precisely what we said when Novell first made this statement. Here are more explicit details:

I talked briefly with a Novell spokesman and am waiting for more information or a comment. But entering pure speculation for a moment, given the relative importance of the Microsoft deal, could a Microsoft purchase of Novell be possible?

[UPDATE: Novell has filed an 8K with the SEC stating that the company has "no current plans to sell the company." Of course, that doesn't mean that management is not considering a sale and it also leaves open the room for selling anything shy of the entire company. It also is not a statement that management has no interest in selling all or part of the company in the interest of shareholders. I asked a company spokesman about this, who said that they stand by the statement. So, we're pretty much left with the word from DiFucci.]

As a recap, here are some old reports that came after the rumour. From the Boston press:

Novell approach

Novell Inc., the Waltham-based Linux software maker, may be willing to sell itself to boost shareholder value, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said after meeting with Chief Financial Officer Dana Russell.

Bloomberg has identical text in two aggregate reports:

Novell Inc. (NOVL US): The second-largest U.S. seller of Linux software said it has no current plans to sell the company. The shares rose 10 percent on June 19 after JPMorgan Chase & Co. said the company may be willing to sell itself.

Fox Business more or less repeats the report from Reuters and so does this site. It turns out that Reuters may have only parroted the SEC filing from Novell. The company was made so nervous by the rumours that it carefully phrased a short statement and pushed it out via the SEC as soon as possible.

Software and services company Novell Inc. (NOVL: News ) Friday said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it currently has no plans to sell the company. Novel also said that it is continuing to operate in the best interest of its shareholders.

Bloomberg later came out with identical bits of text in reports about Novell’s slide:

Novell Inc. (NOVL US) lost 4.7 percent to $4.46 for the largest decline since May 29. The second-largest U.S. seller of Linux software said it has no current plans to sell the company. The shares rose 10 percent on June 19 after JPMorgan Chase & Co. said the company may be willing to sell itself.

More on the news can be found in:

i. Oil Drops 4%; Valero, Conoco, Exxon Fall

Novell, Inc (NOVL) lost 4.9% or 23 cents to $4.45 after the Linux software developer denied its plan to sell part of the company or businesses. On Friday, JP Morgan analyst had said that the company is exploring to sell part of the businesses in a research note.

ii. Novell Falls After Denying Reports of a Sale of the Company

After rising more than 10% on Friday on news of a potential sale of the company, shares of Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) have given back just over 5% after the seller of Linux software said, in a filing with the SEC, that it has no current plans to sell the company.

The pro-Microsoft Motley Fool had something to say about Novell too:

Pay attention to the SEC’s entire definition, not just the stock price. Going solely on price would wrongly categorize billion-dollar companies Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) as penny stocks.

In summary, it’s reasonable to expect Novell to announce sale of parts of the company. Its investors are mostly okay with that. █

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Microsoft Betrays American Workers and Rewards Irish Workers for Tax Haven

Posted in America, Deception, Europe, Finance, Microsoft at 6:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Microsoft discriminates against Americans who work in the United States, their home country

Microsoft’s abolishment of American employees goes back to the company's affairs with Abramoff, who is now in prison. It never really ended. Steve Ballmer blackmailed Obama earlier this month in order to justify reduction in expenses, which comes at the expense of the American worker. Microsoft already moves it workforce abroad to "cheaper" pools of workforce. Now it gets even worse, even domestically.

Bill gives in-state tuition to foreign professionals, families in Washington on visa

[...]

The measure passed amid a roiling budget crisis and hundreds of millions of dollars in cutbacks to higher education. It was nicknamed the “Microsoft subsidy bill” by some lawmakers who say the software giant and its workers surely could afford to pay the higher tuition rates.

The Seattle Times has welcomed no less than 506 comments. People are outraged. To quote just the latest comment, “As a laid off Microsoft employee displaced by guest workers, I am outraged that the State of Washington legislature could pass special interest legislation that only benefits Microsoft and their guest workers’ families.”

The pro-Microsoft blog at the Seattle P-I mentioned this article too and the responses are similar.

Will in Seattle writes: “So if my brother, an American citizen by birth, moves here from Cali he has to wait three years for him and his daughters to get in-state tuition – but an H1-B visa holder from India gets in-state tuition in one year?

“Sorry, that is just plain WRONG.”

A reply says: “Will, the whole H-1B program is wrong. This is just the latest wrinkle.”

“Some time ago we showed that Microsoft was actually hiring in Ireland.”Anonymous commenter adds: “I say down with Microsoft. They are the real evil empire. They produce poor software, have bloated management and since they can’t compete with real companies, they have to hope for hand outs from taxpayers to pay for college tuition for people who will be replacing our citizens with cheaper labor. I thought the Banks were bad but Microsoft takes the cake. They already take advantage of tax loopholes to hide tax revenue overseas and they expect people in the state of Washington to kiss their butts. I don’t see Google, Boeing, or Paccar benefiting anywhere what Microsoft is getting.”

Some time ago we showed that Microsoft was actually hiring in Ireland (amid worldwide layoffs). Microsoft enjoys a special relationship with Ireland because that’s where its massive tax evasion takes place (or gets centralised). Microsoft says that “Ireland is ICT laggard” in the following new article, on which our reader remarks: “When you are in a ICT tax evasion paradise, you want it to become an ICT public investment paradise too.”

To quote a few fragments from this article:

Despite the large technology industry assembled here, Rellis says it is regrettable that Ireland is lagging behind on a range of fronts, from broadband to the use of ICT in education. “We have looked at Ireland and every other country in Europe in terms of technology and Ireland is a laggard. Now, I could be upset about that and say this is an awful criticism of the country but the power of being a laggard is that you can leapfrog over all the other countries if you have a digital strategy.”

[...]

Microsoft, in particular, has been active through its Bizspark programme, which equips tech start-ups with the latest technologies and licen-ses its IP to them. An example of the latter is Dublin comp-any Inistech, which, through the Microsoft IP Ventures Programme and Enterprise Ireland, has relaunched Microsoft’s Software Licensing and Protection (SLP) Services.

For the reality behind BizSpark, see:

• Poor Microsoft Gives Poor Software to Youngsters, Hoping to Remain Relevant
• Microsoft’s Anti-Linux Dumping Crusade: Chapter 11.1
• Microsoft Tries to Fight Libre with Gratis
• An Open, Gentler Microsoft: The Best Illusion Only Novell Can Buy
• Microsoft’s Last Breath: BAD (Bribing, Addicting, Dumping)
• Microsoft’s B.A.D. (Bribing, Addicting, Dumping) Comes to the Philippines
• Down with Microsoft… in India (Updated)
• Microsoft Takes Dumping Tactics up a Notch
• The EDGIfication of the Philippines

We also remarked on the Licensing and Protection move about a week ago [1, 2]. Software patents could be part of it and speaking of which, Irishman Charlie McCreevy, a promoter of software patents in Europe [1, 2, 3] is likely to be replaced by another pro-Microsoft guy, according to the FFII. We wrote about it a fortnight ago. █

“Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won’t leave you alone.”

–Richard Stallman

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Edelman and Waggener Edstrom Reported to the FTC

Posted in Fraud, Marketing, Microsoft at 6:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Earlier today we wrote about the FTC planning to put an end to bribed bloggers. But they might be targeting the receiving end rather than eradicating the problem at its root. Microsoft bribes bloggers not directly; rather, it uses unethical marketing agencies. Edelman was responsible for bribing bloggers with laptops back in 2006 and Microsoft's PR department (Waggener Edstrom) did this in 2008. There are many more examples, but this is not intended to be an exhaustive list.

Here is the complaint I sent.

Subject: Abuse by firms “Edelman” and “Waggener Edstrom”

To:

Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
E-mail: antitrust@ftc.gov

It has come to my attention[1] that you are working to end the practice where bloggers get bribed for reviews of products. I opine that in order to end this abuse you must target the givers — not just the receivers — of bribes. I hereby wish to file a complaint about “Edelman” and “Waggener Edstrom”, lodged at addresses:

Waggener Edstrom
Civica North Tower
225 108th Ave NE Suite #700
Bellevue, WA 98004-5737
Phone: (425) 638-7000
Fax: (425) 638-7001
Email: newbiz@waggeneredstrom.com

Edelman
International Square
1875 Eye Street, NW
Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006

Both firms were giving laptops that are worth approximately $2,000 for many bloggers to write about. There was no strict requirement that these laptops get returned. Here is proof that Waggener Edstrom was involved[2] and here is corresponding proof for Edelman[3]. They worked on behalf of their client, Microsoft Corporation.

With kind regards,

Roy Schestowitz

____
[1] http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10269962-38.html
[2] http://weblog.infoworld.com/enterprisedes….
[3] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/12/28.html

We advise others to do the same and report this issue. █

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Federal Trade Commission May Crack Down on Microsoft’s Bribery of Bloggers

Posted in Deception, Marketing, Microsoft, Vista, Vista 7, Windows at 4:46 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

“I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this is ethically indistinguishable from bribery. Even if no quid-pro-quo is formally required, the gift creates a social obligation of reciprocity. This is best explained in Cialdini’s book Influence (a summary is here). The blogger will feel some obligation to return the favor to Microsoft.”

–Former Microsoft manager

Summary: FTC to go after schwag tactics

THE FTC may not be the most potent of bodies [1, 2], but it may finally make a move to end the bribing of bloggers. Microsoft is a major culprit [1, 2, 3, 4] and an article about intent to take action specifically mentions Microsoft as an example:

Microsoft, for example, created a wave of bad press a few years ago when it gave free Acer laptops preloaded with Windows Vista to several dozen bloggers.

Microsoft did the same thing to promote Vista 7 and it is currently paying people (in terms of awards) to promote Windows in their blogs and also in social Web sites like Digg and Slashdot. That’s not even accounting for the fact that Microsoft pays large publishers like Ziff Davis to promote Windows Vista and it does the same with large shops and OEMs. Even large analyst firms are doing this. We recently spoke about Forrester and out comes another skeptic of their latest smear of Free software.

I won’t take InfoWorld to task for how it spins the story; this is news coverage, not an opinion piece. And it’s a fair description of how Forrester wants to position its research. (I can’t say the same thing about a subsequent InfoWorld blog post that accepts Forrester’s conclusions without questioning them.)

This taste leaves most readers hungry for details. How does Forrester define “open source?” Are we talking about desktop applications, server software, or both? Where does Forrester draw the line between enterprises and SMBs — and how does that distinction blur the inevitable differences between how midsize and small businesses view these issues?

Analysts, like lobbyists (there is overlap), are there to make a buck. Microsoft says that [PDF] “Analysts sell out – that’s their business model…” Gartner is a good example of corruptible analysts and Facebook, with investments from Microsoft, is now turning to the dark side too.

Facebook’s newly minted lobbyist used to be one of the company’s most formidable adversaries.

As a prominent privacy advocate, Timothy Sparapani, former senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that Internet companies have too much control over consumers’ data. The self-described “privacy zealot” didn’t join Facebook until seven months ago because he was uneasy about revealing personal information on the site.

The FTC has a lot of work to do. Legalised bribery is greater an issue than bribed bloggers. █

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The More Aggressive They Get, the Most Troubled They Are

Posted in Apple, GNU/Linux, Hardware, Microsoft at 4:07 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Indicators that Microsoft is feeling cornered

MICROSOFT’S calculated attack on sub-notebooks running GNU/Linux is well documented [1, 2] and since Dana Blankenhorn finds excuses for what Groklaw concludes, it is clear that he has not been following what happened closely enough. What Groklaw offered as a “smoking gun” is just the tip of the iceberg and not even as compelling a proof as the words of ASUS and kickbacks, for example.

Matt Asay claims that “Microsoft is losing its way.” The sub-notebooks saga is just one among two symptoms that he offers as examples.

Two new Microsoft directives suggest that the writing is on the wall for the once-great company. And this isn’t even to mention Microsoft’s tactics to squash Linux’s growth in the Netbook market.

First, Microsoft has kicked off a “Get the Facts” browser campaign that is long on hyperbole and short on facts. Reading Microsoft’s browser comparison chart, one would think that using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome is a fast track to leprosy: IE apparently dominates in security, privacy, ease of use, healing the sick, and causing the lame to walk.

That latter example we wrote about last week and on Sunday.

There is reason for optimism, however. Competition from GNU/Linux has already forced Microsoft to give Windows away almost free of charge, so Microsoft's profits are down by a third. That’s a huge blow. In fact, even the business press which is so friendly towards Microsoft is starting to comprehend the role GNU/Linux plays.

The situation puts Microsoft in a quandary. If the company lowers the price of Windows 7, it could hurt revenues and profits. If it keeps the price high, PC makers might bolt to alternatives, such as the free Linux operating system.

Google (GOOG) is offering PC makers another option. The search giant has been developing the Android operating system, originally to run high-end cell phones. But the software can be adapted for notebooks, and PC makers pay nothing for it up front, though there are often development costs. Acer, the largest seller of netbooks, said in May that it will begin selling an Android-powered netbook this summer.

Needless to say (the article does not state this), Android is Linux based. It is hardly surprising that Bill Gates calls GNU/Linux — not Mac OS 10.x — Microsoft’s "most potent Operating System competitor". Steve Ballmer claims that on the desktop the market share of GNU/Linux outpaces Apple’s, which is only popular on proprietary hardware in wealthy countries (where biased surveys are typically taken). █

“We are not on a path to win against Linux”

–Jim Allchin, Microsoft's Platform Group Vice President

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Microsoft Forcibly Turns Washington State University Students to Customers

Posted in America, Interoperability, Microsoft, OpenDocument at 3:36 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

“The danger is that Microsoft is using strategic monopolistic pricing in the education market, with the government’s assistance, to turn our state university systems into private workforce training programs for Microsoft.”

–Nathan Newman

Summary: Students of WSU (Washington State University) are the latest victims of Live@Edu

SEVERAL MONTHS ago we leaked the details of Live@Edu. This programme is Microsoft’s way of turning students into customers [1, 2, 3] and personal bribes are given to those who enable Microsoft to accomplish this. Perhaps not surprisingly, Washington State University, which is located in the vicinity of Microsoft’s main headquarters, is turning its students to Microsoft customers as well.

Strapped for cash after the state Legislature cut higher education funding, Washington State University is using Microsoft’s free Live@edu system for student e-mail and other services, Microsoft announced today.

It would be interesting to know who received incentives to make such a foolish move. Universities have the capacity and the tools to offer their own mail services, but then there are no kickbacks.

Live@edu is about dependency, which is achieved through lock-in. E-mail may be only part of it (and probably just the beginning) as Microsoft is likely to bundle some other lock-in like Office as SaaS, with Microsoft OOXML as the proprietary format used. Data is then held hostage.

Speaking of lock-in, the ODF Plugfest we have been writing about [1, 2] is intended to accommodate interoperability and end lock-in. Here is another short report on the subject.

Rajiv Shah and Jay Kesan wrote the paper “running code as part of an open standards policy” arguing that the “running code” requirement – i.e. multiple independent, interoperable implementations of an open standard – should be part of governments’ open standards policies.

Last week the Dutch government hosted the first ODF plugfest: creators, implementors and end-users met up to improve OpenDocument interoperability for real, and it worked out well.

House’s ruless were clearly set, NoiV program and the OpenDoc Society created an appropriate environment to avoid flaming and to concentrate on fine tuning ODF interoperability.

Microsoft was there to disrupt of course. █

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