Paul Maritz
Photo by Robert Scoble

Summary: Non-standard and Microsoft-controlled APIs are said to be pushed into Microsoft's #1 competition (Linux) via the VM company people should beware as it also strives to buy Mono

MICROSOFT is not the only company which attacks GNU/Linux using software patents, not anymore anyway (thus the need to diversify). But some of the companies which are attacking GNU/Linux using software patents are either Microsoft partners or entities which are accommodated by former Microsoft staff and today we'll show some examples from the news. This post concentrates on VMware, which would be better off known as VMB_ware.

As we've been stressing and documenting for a couple of years, VMB_ware is the home of several ex-Microsoft executives. Even Microsoft bloggers are saying it. This does not take some crazy theory to show, one just needs to read the CVs of the top management there.

We have written several lengthy posts which explain how VMB_ware suffocates Zimbra [1, 2, 3], which poses a risk to Microsoft's Exchange (VMB_ware's parent company, EMC, appears to be promoting Exchange). Why can't more people foresee the negative effects of SUSE being offered to VMB_ware?

One of our readers who goes by the name of gnufreex raised a curious point a short while ago. By the way, his opinions are his own are there are attempts by mobbyists to smear Techrights over mere informal words (IRC) of people who participate, so be sure to check context. To quote just a portion of a much longer discussion:

-TRIdentica/#techrights-[phoronix/@phoronix] Wine 1.2.1 Brings A Bunch Of Fixes: While a lot of new code has already been introduced into the Wine 1.3 developm... http://bit.ly/cwdVRe		Oct 08 17:49
TechrightsBot-tr	Title: [Phoronix] Wine 1.2.1 Brings A Bunch Of Fixes .::. Size~: 15.41 KB	Oct 08 17:49
gnufreex	Wine guys shitcaned Direct3D	Oct 08 17:50
gnufreex	No can do says them	Oct 08 17:50
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[mairin/@mairin] @bkuhn can i see the logo? i haven't seen any links to it!		Oct 08 17:51
Tekk_	O.o	Oct 08 17:51
Tekk_	isn't direct3d needed for like........everything now?	Oct 08 17:51
gnufreex	No.. Not that way.	Oct 08 17:51
Tekk_	hmm?	Oct 08 17:51
gnufreex	I meant Linux native Direct3D	Oct 08 17:51
Tekk_	ah	Oct 08 17:51
Tekk_	as opposed to through wine	Oct 08 17:52
gnufreex	VMware is creating Linux native Direc3D	Oct 08 17:52
gnufreex	They bought Tungsten Graphics	Oct 08 17:52
gnufreex	They work on Gallium3D	Oct 08 17:52
Tekk_	oh dear god	Oct 08 17:52
gnufreex	And they now pluged Direct3D in Galallium	Oct 08 17:52
Tekk_	that's the biggest patent trap I could ever imagine	Oct 08 17:52
gnufreex	Yes	Oct 08 17:52
Tekk_	go for it vmware! but take novell with you first!	Oct 08 17:53
gnufreex	I am sure VMware wil crosslicense.	Oct 08 17:56
gnufreex	We can hate them next.	Oct 08 17:56
Tekk_	yayyyy	Oct 08 17:56
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[bkuhn/@bkuhn] @mairin, which logo? Conservancy logo @fabsh designed is on sfconservancy.org . First candidate !FaiFCast logo from @vinzv is: ur1.ca/204bi		Oct 08 17:57
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[mairin/@mairin] @bkuhn oh wow i really love the logo @fabsh did, kick ass!		Oct 08 17:57
DiabloD3	[12:52:41] <Tekk_> that's the biggest patent trap I could ever imagine\	Oct 08 17:58
DiabloD3	how so?	Oct 08 17:58
DiabloD3	and by the way	Oct 08 17:58
DiabloD3	its for d3d10/11 only	Oct 08 17:58
DiabloD3	the API is pretty different from 9 and earlier	Oct 08 17:58
gnufreex	Really, VMware is deader as KVM is better and better.	Oct 08 17:58

[...]

DiabloD3	Tekk_: yes, but they cant patent anything here that GL isnt already in violation of	Oct 08 17:59
Tekk_	oh, so there's hope	Oct 08 17:59
DiabloD3	its just an API	Oct 08 17:59
DiabloD3	it works the same way GL3 in future mode does.	Oct 08 17:59
Tekk_	so they could basically just make it a wrapper?	Oct 08 18:00
Tekk_	cool	Oct 08 18:00
DiabloD3	well, wine is "just a wrapper"	Oct 08 18:00
DiabloD3	they're making a native state tracker just to make it faster	Oct 08 18:00
gnufreex	But there is again problem.	Oct 08 18:00
DiabloD3	theres no "problem"	Oct 08 18:00
gnufreex	Games will port to Linux and it will be DirectX	Oct 08 18:01
gnufreex	That is bad.,	Oct 08 18:01
DiabloD3	you can write D3D10/11 native code on linux... but you cant run that code on windows	Oct 08 18:01
gnufreex	They should be OpenGL	Oct 08 18:01
DiabloD3	and you cant take your windows code and compile it on linux	Oct 08 18:01
DiabloD3	so you still need wine	Oct 08 18:01
DiabloD3	gnufreex: and no	Oct 08 18:02
DiabloD3	go look at d3d10/11	Oct 08 18:02
DiabloD3	its almost an entirely different API	Oct 08 18:02
gnufreex	OpenGL is better. I looked.	Oct 08 18:02
DiabloD3	opengl3 in future mode, and d3d10/11 do shit how the card wants it	Oct 08 18:02
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[mairin/@mairin] @fabsh i could tell from the smaller version - it's brilliant. the circuit board roots too :)		Oct 08 18:02
DiabloD3	they both act and work the same	Oct 08 18:02
DiabloD3	microsoft basically admitted d3d was trash, and cloned opengl with a d3d naming style	Oct 08 18:02
DiabloD3	its sorta like what c# is to java	Oct 08 18:03
gnufreex	So they will later do extend and extinguish	Oct 08 18:03
DiabloD3	get what Im saying?	Oct 08 18:03
DiabloD3	well, they cant extend and extinguish	Oct 08 18:03
DiabloD3	opengl keeps pushing features first	Oct 08 18:03
DiabloD3	microsoft has to somehow get AMD and Nvidia both to support d3d features before opengl has them	Oct 08 18:03
DiabloD3	which is impossible	Oct 08 18:04
DiabloD3	microsoft refuses to let vendors be part of the design process	Oct 08 18:04
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[fabsh/@fabsh] @mairin Hehehe.... Thanks. @bkuhn had the original idea and we refined it together. I really like doing logos! :)		Oct 08 18:04
DiabloD3	which is extremely hilarious about d3d10	Oct 08 18:04
DiabloD3	they copied an API that has 100% vendor input AND is older than d3d	Oct 08 18:04
gnufreex	Stupid people think DirectX is better than OpenGL. And most people are stupid. So it doesn't matter.	Oct 08 18:04
DiabloD3	gnufreex: well now it no longer matters	Oct 08 18:05
DiabloD3	d3d IS opengl.	Oct 08 18:05
DiabloD3	well, d3d10/11 is	Oct 08 18:05
DiabloD3	its the same fucking api, just with incompatible syntax.	Oct 08 18:05
gnufreex	I have tough time beleiving that.	Oct 08 18:05
DiabloD3	microsoft has basically killed d3d10/11 adoption because of it	Oct 08 18:05
DiabloD3	all the hardcore opengl haters wont go to 10/11 from 9	Oct 08 18:05
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[bkuhn/@bkuhn] @fabsh sounds like you and @vinzv should fight over who gets the !FaiFCast logo,then. :) competing logo proposals could be fun for me & @kaz		Oct 08 18:06
DiabloD3	(which 10/11 is vista7's big selling point for gamers)	Oct 08 18:06
gnufreex	So then, this is the time when OpenGL should be pushed hard. No phuckin DirectX	Oct 08 18:06
DiabloD3	gnufreex: not at all.	Oct 08 18:06
DiabloD3	the problem is, the state tracker doesnt do anything for me	Oct 08 18:06
DiabloD3	portal 2 is a d3d9 game.	Oct 08 18:06
gnufreex	Why to let MS kill DirectX	Oct 08 18:06
gnufreex	?	Oct 08 18:06
gnufreex	If Linux have DirectX, OpenGL is dead	Oct 08 18:06
gnufreex	Nobody will use it	Oct 08 18:07
DiabloD3	not at all	Oct 08 18:07
DiabloD3	the most important game of the year is d3d9.	Oct 08 18:07
gnufreex	Everybody thinks DirectX is best thing since slice bread.	Oct 08 18:07
DiabloD3	and no, NO ONE thinks directx is any good	Oct 08 18:07
gnufreex	Everybody are idiots.	Oct 08 18:07
DiabloD3	it costs sales.	Oct 08 18:07
DiabloD3	no android sales, no mac sales, no iphone sales.	Oct 08 18:07
DiabloD3	and theres only one game console that uses d3d, and thats xbox, and the xbox doesnt do 10/11, it uses a customized version of 9	Oct 08 18:08
DiabloD3	so if they're shipping pc AND xbox, its going to be a d3d9 pipeline (or multiple pipelines, and everyone hates that)	Oct 08 18:08
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[fabsh/@fabsh] @bkuhn OK. I have an idea for one. Will try to squeeze it into my schedule.... @vinzv		Oct 08 18:09
DiabloD3	all the other game consoles either offer some opengl or opengl-like api, or the rendering pipeline is completely different (ps2/psp/ps3, etc)	Oct 08 18:09
DiabloD3	gnufreex: dx is rather dead	Oct 08 18:10
DiabloD3	most games being sold are either opengl, or are neither gl or d3d.	Oct 08 18:10
DiabloD3	why sell a silly PC game, when you can sell 25 times more on the DS? or 15 times more on the wii?	Oct 08 18:10
DiabloD3	or if you need those next gen graphics, 10 to 15 times more on a PS3.	Oct 08 18:11
DiabloD3	xbox has very few native xbox titles, and they dont sell well	Oct 08 18:11
DiabloD3	gnufreex: so d3d10/11 on linux really doesnt mean shit at the end of the day.	Oct 08 18:11
DiabloD3	not only that, they've cut themselves out of the largest gaming segment: casual gamers	Oct 08 18:13
DiabloD3	I already mentioned iphone and android	Oct 08 18:13
DiabloD3	but appletv and google tv may end up being casual gamer platforms as well	Oct 08 18:13
DiabloD3	and microsoft is totally fucked out of that.	Oct 08 18:13
gnufreex	Apple has propriatary OpenGL extensions. Stipid Steve Jobs.	Oct 08 18:14
DiabloD3	nope.	Oct 08 18:15
DiabloD3	Apple is a vendor, they actually CAN name new extensions	Oct 08 18:16
DiabloD3	its legit	Oct 08 18:16
DiabloD3	and several apple extensions have made it into core.	Oct 08 18:16
DiabloD3	apple maintains their own opengl stack for osx, and also a different one for opengl es on iOS hardware	Oct 08 18:16
DiabloD3	mesa also has extensions	Oct 08 18:16
DiabloD3	gnufreex: you cant just mysteriously have a phantom extension	Oct 08 18:17
DiabloD3	you have to register for a number, and you cant register without a completed spec	Oct 08 18:17
DiabloD3	gnufreex: I have no problem with Apple proposing new extensions	Oct 08 18:19
DiabloD3	even Microsoft had that power at one time, before they quit the opengl board	Oct 08 18:20
gnufreex	When I last heard about that, Apple was not feeding back into core.	Oct 08 18:20
gnufreex	You say they are.	Oct 08 18:21
gnufreex	Then it's fine.	Oct 08 18:21

The short story is that it's being suggested that VMB_ware is promoting Microsoft's DirectX at OpenGL's expense, even inside Linux. The problems are obvious; just like with Mono, it's about control and patents. It's something to keep an eye on, for sure.

Microsoft is already attacking GNU/Linux using patents (even in the courtroom several times) and that's a subject we'll cover in the next post. ⬆