Bonum Certa Men Certa

Why Novell and Ubuntu Suppress Opposition of Mono

Summary: Two new analyses from the Mono-Nono Web site

JASON has just published two posts that hit the nail on the head. The first one is a detailed explanation of how, why, and who might be interested in suppressing Mono opposition. There are many reasons to ignore these gagging attempts, which include relentless attempts to assassinate the character of individuals and reputation of Web sites. We've seen Miguel de Icaza cursing Sam Varghese for example. Why? Because he happens to support the FSF when it comes to his stance on Mono and GNU/Linux. It's like some sort of Microsoft/Novell-organised McCarthyism.



From Jason's post:

A lot of times, mono critics are told we should just “shut up”. Everything that needs to be said has been said, no one is going to change their mind, and there is no point in going on about things.

Let me tell you why I reject that.

[...]

Reason four: It is too important

We aren’t talking about arguing over the One True Brace Style here. Team Mono wants to be on your desktop. They want more Mono and even Moonlight up in GNOME. If they get GNOME based on .NET, then you can bet your sweet object code they are coming for KDE.

Reason five: It sets a bad precedent

First was C#/CLI, then .NET, then Moonlight. Each iteration has been less Free and more risky to build on. Each one is ever closer to some exclusive Novell-Microsoft arrangement.

What of the next Microsoft technology that Team Mono decides needs to be cloned? Microsoft can afford to have every component integrate tightly – in fact, it is to thier advantage to do so. But we who rely on standards and promises to protect us can not be so cavalier.

Reason six: That’s what Novell wants

Listen, Novell management is not a bunch of idiots. There can be no question that they knew entering into a relationship with Microsoft would be taken as a betrayal of the community. There is no doubt in my military mind they sat down and tried to judge the cost as best they could, and you know what they came up with...


Sadly enough, as a subsequent post puts it, Ubuntu separates Mono critics from the discussion. This is a tactless move for reasons that are explained in the post.

Time to draw attention to the “Free Speech Zone” on the Ubuntu Forums.

The target

For perfectly understandable reasons, Team Mono is really targeting Ubuntu to get ever more mono applications in by default. Banshee is virtually a given at this point, and GNOME-Do is a likely follow up. There is a blizzard of pro-mono misinformation on the Ubuntu Forums – which it breaks my heart to say, doesn’t exactly have quite same level of intellectual rigor as the Dialogues of Plato.


Whoever takes over these distributions -- be it Microsoft-sympathetic people or even Microsoft employees -- they are ruining GNU/Linux, sometimes knowingly. Some people's perception or vision of GNU/Linux is another Mac OS X with DRM, patent fees, .NET, and a desktop which is built based on Microsoft Silverlight (ask Miguel de Icaza about it). What would be achieved? This is not the GNU system and it is the antithesis of Free software.

“We are divided between people like Novell employee or Microsoft folks and those who are actually GNU/Linux users defending their platform, their territory.”Ubuntu does not even deny suppressing opposition to Mono anymore. What a spit in the face of the FSF and the large majority of the GNU/Linux users out there, who agree with the FSF. Ubuntu suppressed Mono opposition before and even eliminated it (it disappeared, according to Jason), which is what led to the creation of the Mono-Nono Web site on the face of it.

Some will say that we're a "divided community"; yes, maybe we are. We are divided between people like Novell employee or Microsoft folks and those who are actually GNU/Linux users defending their platform, their territory. To a certain degree, this is indeed the case.

Several companies and organisations (e.g. VMware, ISO, OSI, Yahoo, XenSource) found out the hard way what happens when Microsoft takes over staffing or -- as in Novell's case -- starts paying people's paychecks in other companies.

The foresight of the FSF has been excellent for many years and the GNU GPL was defended for decades (it is the most popular software licence right now). Rather than reject the FSF, people should reject those who foolishly reject the FSF's advice.

"He [Bill Gates] is divisive. He is manipulative. He is a user. He has taken much from me and the industry."

--Gary Kildall



Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Computer Users Aren't Zoo Animals
Animals don't belong inside cages in zoos, either
[Meme] Not About How Many Locks One Adds
Some people try to point their fingers in all the wrong directions now that a new patch is available for rsync
Total Lock-down Ambitions - Part I - DRM and TPM Need Not be the Future of Computing, There's Another Way
Who is being restricted? Us, the users.
 
FSF, Guardian of the GNU Project, to Reach $400,000 in Winter Fundraiser Ahead of 40th Anniversary
The GNU Project Turns 42 later this year
Links 16/01/2025: "Meduza, IRL" and the Clock is Ticking on TikTok in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/01/2025: Yesterday's Gone, The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E Howard
Links for the day
Links 16/01/2025: Scale and Scope of Microsoft Layoffs Revealed (Two Waves of Layoffs in 2025 Already)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/01/2025: Meta Has a Pixelfed Problem and Space Time Scoping
Links for the day
Anti-Linux 'Articles' in linuxsecurity.com (Guardian Digital, Inc) Are Composed by Bots, Probably Microsoft's
linuxsecurity.com has become a mindless stream of LLM slop
"New Year, New Career"
published a few hours ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 15, 2025
If You See Many Microsoft Puff Pieces That All Say More or Less the Same, Consider the Possibility That Microsoft LLMs 'Wrote' Those
There are also many phantom fake 'reports' about Microsoft in relation to some "hey hi" (AI) things
[Meme] The Crybully
Crybullies shrug
IRC Logs Complete in Geminispace (Even in GemText Format!)
We still envision ourselves - a community of justice-seeking enthusiasts - as a multi-protocol platform, not just some ordinary Web site
It Was Only a Matter of Time
We're going to pursue justice
[Meme] "Well, He’s Dead So," Bill Gates Tells the Media (Which He Pays) About His Close Friend Jeffrey Epstein
Does the police in San Francisco cover up crimes instead of solving them?
The Rumour Was Right, Today is the Second Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in 2025
It has only been two weeks since the year began
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Had a Good 2025 Already (Its "Year 40")
FSF will reach $400,000
[Meme] His Existence is Proof It's Not Infeasible
We salute the FSF's original mission
New Upcoming Series About DRM and TPM
We'll do our best to name and explain some of the alternatives that are still available
Links 15/01/2025: Efforts to End Wars and 'Newsflation'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/01/2025: Abandoning Windows for GNU/Linux, SIS Progress Update
Links for the day
Links 15/01/2025: Social Control Media Spreading Lies, TikTok Banned in 4 Days
Links for the day
More Microsoft Cuts and Layoffs (Microsoft Media Mole Jordan Novet Tries to Float "Hiring Freezes" Spin After the "Headcount" Spin Failed)
As one might expect...
Microsoft Breaks Linux Again
Does it even care? It's selling Windows.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Links 14/01/2025: Vaccination Hesitancy Problems and Kangaroo Courts (UPC)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/01/2025: Introduction to GrapheneOS and Small Internet
Links for the day
Dr. Miriam Bastian From the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Gives a Talk in a Couple of Weeks at FOSDEM (Brussels, Belgium)
It's good to see people from all around the world and with very different backgrounds united around digital philosophy
Andy Farnell on Eating Your Own Dog Food
focuses on security but goes beyond that
EPO Uses the Misnomer "AI" to Attack Software Developers in Europe
The EPO is nowadays a huge pile of crimes
The European Patent Office’s (EPO) Communication on "Reform" is "Incomplete and Misleading," Says the Central Staff Committee at the EPO
This puts Europe at risk and makes it more vulnerable
[Meme] How to Lose Social Life (While Pretending to Still Have It)
Talk to people, not to microphones
Android (or AOSP) is More Free Than iOS, Both in Practice (as OEM Bundles) Both Are User-Hostile
In a perfect world, people would choose and deploy software that is entirely made up of reciprocally-licensed bits
Neuroscience of Consciousness Paper: Why Social Control Media and Proprietary Spyware Harm Your Health
"Software Freedom turns out to be good for your health"
Access to the Source Code of the Programs You're Using Matters (Even If You're Not a Coder and Cannot Fix Bugs)
Companies like Microsoft tell us that full access to all the code isn't important
Guardian Digital (linuxsecurity.com) Publishes Fake Articles About Linux and About (for) 'Linux' Foundation Openwashing
Brittany Day is at it again
Links 14/01/2025: LA Crisis and EU, UK Respond to "X.com" Threat From South African Oligarch
Links for the day
The Word About the Upcoming Talk by Richard Stallman - Scheduled for Friday This Week - Has Spread ("The Cost of Freedom," Lausanne, Switzerland)
So the word is spreading
"AI Music" is Not Music and It's Hardly "AI" Either
Synthetic garbage is a solution in search of a problem
Webspam in BetaNews
Not only is it marketing SPAM
[Meme] 13 Years a Slave of Microsoft
Might makes right?
Gemini Links 14/01/2025: The Gemtext Print Hurdle and New Game: Fill!
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, January 13, 2025