Bonum Certa Men Certa

Best of 'The Source': Outercurve, LibreOffice, Mono, and Novell's Sale

The Source



Summary: New FUD-busting posts about threats to software freedom, courtesy of The Source (Web site)

AT TECHRIGHTS we like the site called The Source because -- much like Groklaw -- it covers many of the issues that we focus on, especially the opposition to Free software which opposes it by proactive attacks or infiltrations. Today we go through 4 of the latest new posts from The Source, posted over the past week or so (there were 5 in total).



Microsoft, the company which lays off and outsources people who are 'too expensive', has been trying an entryism charm manoeuvre for quite some time; it did not get so far with that in the Free software world, certainly not with the remarks its managers occasionally make (e.g. Hernán Rincón last month [1, 2, 3, 4]).

CodePlex has failed to be dissociated mentally from Microsoft (it is certainly technically associated with it), so Microsoft has it nymshift to "Outercurve" and The Source explains why this is a rubbish attempt to distance oneself from Microsoft, without making any real changes other than the name:

Case in point – Microsoft OuterCurve

By extension, then, independent foundations and non-profic organizations represent the most attractive attack vector for those hostile to Free Software. See, for example Microsoft CodePlex Microsoft OuterCurve, where you can get spin from Executive Director Paula Hunter like:

What distinguishes us from Eclipse and Apache is that we’re license agnostic and platform agnostic

“Platform agnostic”? Let’s look at the 6 Microsoft CodePlex Microsoft OuterCurve approved “galleries”:



  • Orchard – ASP.Net (Microsoft Windows)
  • MVC Contrib – ASP.Net (Microsoft Windows)
  • ASP.Net Ajax Library – ASP.Net (Microsoft Windows)
  • Web Forms MVP Project – ASP.Net (Microsoft Windows)
  • CoApp Project – Microsoft Windows
  • Network Monitor Parsers – Microsoft Network Monitor (Microsoft Windows)

Yes, indeed: real platform agnosticism there.



I also love how Ms Hunter says:

And to be direct, no, we are not distancing ourselves from Microsoft; we are very pleased with our relationship with them and their continued support of the foundation.

Of course you aren’t distancing yourselves from Microsoft –  you don’t have anywhere to distance yourselves to - every single project you have is based on a Microsoft platform!  Your relationship with Microsoft is your entire and sole reason for existing.

There is one bit of truth on the Microsoft CodePlex Microsoft Outercurve site:



We have changed our name, but not our mission.

Believe that.





The Source then compares Outercurve to some other so-called 'foundations' and deals separately with LibreOffice [1, 2, 3], which is also attached to a foundation that's rather diverse. The Source explains why Novell's limited role in this foundation makes LibreOffice nothing like Go-OO, at least in the long run (we have already addressed this typical trolls' argument and so does The Source).

Allowing Mr. Schulz a bit of satirical lee-way in his representation of those who are concerned with Novell’s behavior, this is a very solid and reassuring response.

It not only recognizes Novell has severe perception issues in the larger community, but it clearly addresses the main concern (Mono) in the context of LibreOffice. I also appreciate the acknowledgement of acceptable and non-acceptable patches from Novell.


Further on this subject of Novell and Mono, the latest Miguel de Icaza interview which we covered here is now being tackled by The Source, which addresses both Mono and Moonlight. To quote one part of this detailed response to the 'Microsoft press' promoting Mono:

I’m not sure that anyone ever was looking to Team Apologista to be convinced to move to the iPhone, Android or Mac platforms. Perhaps the meaning is “using-our-.NET-knock-off-instead-of-the-native-developent-platform”?

Also, I’m confused. I was told that bringing software to Linux was not really the point of Mono? But here, it seems like Mr. de Icaza is asserting that Team Apologista was out there “begging” for Mono to be used to bring software to Linux?


Lastly, argues The Source, Novell is worth more dead than alive:

The Gentle Reader may note that Your Distinguished Author has noted time and time again that Novell has very little product of value outside of SuSE Linux (and directly related products), which Novell promptly and idiotically hobbled with secretive deals with Linux Public Enemy #1.

The diplomatic way of phrasing it you’ll see? “[P]rivate equity buyers were balking over the price the company was asking for the [non SuSE Linux] assets” – this has been noted in many financial articles analyzing the difficulty Novell is having throwing itself at potential buyers.


Confer or revisit some of the latest posts about Novell's sale [1, 2].

Recent Techrights' Posts

Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
 
Links 20/07/2025: Fending Off BRICS and US Government Attacks Its Own Media (Like China and Russia)
Links for the day
Framed by social control media: Alex Belfield, Voice of Reason
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: Git For Authors and Filtered Antenna
Links for the day
UEFI 'Secure' Boot Abuses by Microsoft to be Brought Up in the UK High Court in 3 Months
we'll seek compensation
Next Year It'll Be Half a Decade Since the Fall of Freenode (and IRC is Still Doing OK)
Our IRC network is still accessible using the exact same software that ran in Windows 3.x
Lupa Will Soon Know of 3,100+ Active Gemini Capsules
And some people in the "Small Web" try to tell us that Gemini is dying?
The Slopfarms Are Taking Real News Articles and Replacing Them With Lies Generated by Machines
Bluntly speaking, Fagioli is nothing short of an online scammer
Links 19/07/2025: Techtarget to Cull 10% of Staff, New Threats to Free Press in the US (Home of Dangerous and Violent Stranglers From Microsoft)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: "Climate Justice” and Forking Programs
Links for the day
What Wayland and Microsoft/IBM systemd Have in Common
focus on what IBM (Red Hat) is pushing while running over critics.
Linux Already Has About 60% of the "Market"
"When mentioning the client side," opines an associate, "it is essential to recite the list of other markets where Microsoft is negligible or a no-show. It is repetitive to do so, but it needs saying -- often."
In Norway, Android/Linux Has Just Hit All-Time High (First Time Since 2020), GNU/Linux Already Very Prevalent
Despite its small population size, Norway gave us Qt and many other things
Finland (and NATO) Must Move to GNU/Linux and Dump Microsoft Even Faster
"Microsoft is not a technology problem, it is a staffing problem."
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Very Wide-Ranging, Media Focused on Gaming Though Microsoft Mass-Firing Lawyers and "AI" Staff (Contradicting Its Supposed "Investment" in "AI")
Microsoft plans to fire almost half a thousand people in legal roles
2012 Article About the Free Software Foundation Blasting Canonical/Ubuntu Over Adoption of "Secure" Boot (Microsoft's Remote Control Over GNU/Linux Since PCs' Power-on)
By Katherine Noyes (article has since then became 404, not found)
The Microsofters We Sued Helped Microsoft Make GNU/Linux 'Expire' This Year
"Linux and Secure Boot certificate expiration"
linuxconfig.org Joins linuxtechlab.com and Others, Becomes a Slopfarm With Fake Linux 'Articles' (LLM Slop)
They contain "linux" in their domain names, but they are just slopfarms
Links 19/07/2025: Microsoft Cuts in China and Wall Street Journal Sued for Reporting on Jeffrey Epstein
Links for the day
Debian Can Dump Blind Users Because I am Not Blind
the sort of mentality we're up against
Fascistic Policies Got 'Normalised' in 'Public Office'. Let's Not Let the Same Happen in 'Tech'.
Political discourse typically guides what's "normal" and what "good citizens" should believe/feel
The European Patent Office Cannot Attract Proficient Patent Examiners Who Master Their Domain
They are enablers and facilitators of corruption
Yes, Your Mastodon Instance Will Also Shut Down
Few people run a one-person instance in the Fediverse
The Demise of GAFAM Necessitates Greater and Broader Awareness
Morale at Microsoft is really bad
Free Software Foundation Reaches 75% of Funding Goal
Not bad for this "Fosschild"
Slopwatch: 7 New Examples of Fake 'Linux' Slop Pieces (Plagiarism With Misinformation)
Serial Sloppers need to be shunned
Links 19/07/2025: Kapo-berg Settles, Software Patents Challenged
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 18, 2025
Links 18/07/2025: Peace With PKK and Connie Francis Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: Alhena 5.1.8 and Bornhack 2025
Links for the day
How to Top Up a "Limited Liability" With Even More Limitations (Dodging Accountability in the UK)
Some people call it a "shell game". Sometimes it's done for tax evasion purposes.
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Inches Towards 75% of Fund-Raising Target
Will the cutoff date be extended again?
Gemini Space (or Geminispace) Grows, But Usage of Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops Further
Ideally, all Gemini capsules should use self-signed certificates
Links 18/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs in Activision, The New Stack (Sponsored by Microsoft) Complains About Openwashing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: OCC25 Gnus for Reading Usenet and RSS Feeds, Small Web Updates
Links for the day
[Meme] 9AM Meeting at Brett Wilson LLP
Brett Wilson LLP in space
Listing as Staff People Who Left the Company More Than Six Years Earlier
There are apparently no laws against that
Brian Fagioli Shovels Up LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Onto Slashdot, Then Uses Slashdot for Affirmation or as Badge of Honour
Notice how some of his latest slop is presented ("as featured on Slashdot")
Social Control Media Productivity
Snapping photos of the bone
The Law Firm SLAPPing Us For the Microsofters Lost 72% of Its Tangible Assets in the Past Year, According to Its Own Reports
That might help explain why they're willing to tolerate serial stranglers from Microsoft as clients
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025