12.29.09
Mandriva with KDE4: Video Demo
Summary: A demo from last year shows the fun of working with GNU/Linux
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11.23.09
Do Patent Deals with Microsoft Knock GNU/Linux Vendors Out of GNU/Linux Business?
Sure seems like it
Summary: How four vendors of desktop GNU/Linux lost their direction after joining Microsoft’s software patents racket
LINSPIRE/LINDOWS is no more, as things went downhill after it had signed a patent deal with Microsoft. It sold out, so GNU/Linux users did not give it a second chance. As for Novell, it seems heavily focused these days on Silverlight and .NET. Moonlight and Mono are no longer even targeting GNU/Linux; Novell releases Mono products for platforms like the Apple iPhone, Mac OS X, even Windows [1, 2], with similar impact on the Nintendo Wii. Novell has essentially been transformed by the Microsoft deal just like Corel was.
“Perhaps there has not been high demand for their $50 Microsoft “patent protection” product for Debian derivatives.”Back in June, Xandros publicly revealed that is was not a GNU/Linux company anymore. “We are kind of getting away from being a Linux company” is the exact quote. Perhaps there has not been high demand for their $50 Microsoft "patent protection" product for Debian derivatives.
Well, based on this new press release (also here), Xandros walks further away from GNU/Linux, which is good news given what the company has done to GNU/Linux (and for Microsoft).
Xandros today announced the launch of Apps2Market, the first true cross-platform white label application store and m-commerce service. Apps2Market creates custom app store environments that are capable of reaching users with any digital content and applications in a growing, fragmented internet-connected device market.
Here is a short article about this.
Calling it the “first rue cross-platform white label applications store,” Apps2Market is aimed at creating an app store for any platform out there, so long as it’s Intel or ARM-based web-devices. The idea is that software vendors, automotive vendors, or any other manufacturers can create a marketplace custom-tailored for applications specific to the device they’re selling.
The last time we wrote about Turbolinux we showed that it too had lost its direction after the patent deal with Microsoft. Deals with Microsoft are a death knell. By contrast, companies like Mandriva, Red Hat and Canonical stayed focused. The conclusion is obvious. █
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11.07.09
Ubuntu 9.10 Works Well (and So Does the Microsoft Propaganda Machine)
“I’d put the Linux phenomenon really as threat No. 1.”
–Steve Ballmer, 2001
Summary: Response to over-inflated complaints and FUD about Ubuntu 9.10, which seem to have begun with known Microsoft boosters
THE launch of Vista 7 was not a success. Even Microsoft's CEO knows it. So what would a company like Microsoft naturally do? Well, its ecosystem of Internet trolls/AstroTurfers has been attacking Ubuntu 9.10 for several weeks now, both in Web sites and in Internet forums.
One might jokingly suggest that Microsoft is applying in reverse the same “hype machine” it used for Vista 7, this time aiming it against the #1 rival of Microsoft, namely GNU/Linux (even on the desktop). Inevitably — however belated it is — Microsoft listed Ubuntu as a “risk” in its last SEC filing (Microsoft must do so, as shareholders can otherwise sue).
My most recent install of GNU/Linux was one of Ubuntu 9.10*. I tested it 2 months before the release and reported some bugs that I found (mostly minor, no show-stoppers). It has worked almost flawlessly for me since alpha (with KDE), meaning that all the hardware worked out of the box and hitherto there have been no substantial technical issues. People whom I speak to report similarly-positive experiences.
A couple of days ago we linked to the following post, which says:
The Myth of the Bad Ubuntu Release
[...]
OK, so there’s something that always disturbs me when release time comes around. Here’s a rough chronology of every Ubuntu release (at least since I’ve been involved, so that goes back to Breezy Badger) and what the “buzz” around the internet says:
1. Alphas come out: buzz says, “not much to see here folks, move along.”
2. Beta comes out: buzz says, “wow, great release, but where’s the new artwork?” and I’m thinking “How on earth can the pull this off?”
3. RC rolls around: buzz says, “new awesomeness right around the corner!” and I’m thinking “darn it, there’s a lot more to do.”
4. Release day: buzz says, “OMG I have to download this” and I’m thinking “phew, that’s over, I’m glad I rsync’d/zsync’d yesterday”
5. The week after a release: buzz says, “Noooooo, this is the worst Ubuntu release EVER!” and I’m thinking “wow, they really did pull it off”
6. Rinse and Repeat[...]
So my conclusion, for what it’s worth, is that while some Ubuntu releases are a bit better than others, this periodic buzz around the internet that the latest Ubuntu release is an epic FAIL is a self-perpetuating myth, mostly caused by people needing something to complain or write about.
Another post from the same day correctly says that “No distro is perfect. Exaggerated reports or isolated cases will not be very helpful either in assessing these things.”
“What happens with 9.10 is not much different than usual, but the reaction is biased and exaggerated.”What the above group of posts is about are reports which label Ubuntu 9.10 a failure. A lot of people who claim such an issue (without testing for themselves) are linking to Microsoft booster Gavin Clarke, who was probably one of the first to attack Ubuntu 9.10 (in The Register). Too many people are taking his words blindly and then parroting them; it’s like an echo chamber.
Canonical has just responded in its blog, also naming Gavin Clark [sic] as one of the culprits. What happens with 9.10 is not much different than usual, but the reaction is biased and exaggerated.
The much misunderstood Ubuntu 9.10 upgrade poll
[...]
I upgraded to 9.10 a while ago. Flawlessly. So I saw little need to go tell a forum. This is where people go when they have problems. Gavin and Serdar were shocked to find people with support issues on a support forum. I have no doubt the help line at Microsoft has taken a lot of calls recently, but I would not extrapolate from that a large percentage of Windows users are having upgrade problems.
Tellingly and almost the last word on this are the polls from our previous releases, none of which were considered or reported as upgrade disasters:
A very useful summary of these findings by Nicholas Ipsen is here. I am linking to these polls not because I want to provide evidence that the Karmic upgrade experience is or was good or bad, there are other more qualified to comment on that, but that there is nothing new here.
Canonical’s Jono Bacon also wrote about this subject, apparently trying not to alienate people who did genuinely have problems (all users of all operating systems encounter issues sometimes, even though these issues do not get amplified equally).
In the interests of keeping things in perspective, I just wanted to remind us all of some of the things going on in the background that I think are worth remembering. Take these for what they are, but I think they go a long way in helping to understand the picture before us.
The “picture before us” was absolutely fine for about a week (even after the release), just before Clarke and other known FUDMeisters took it upon themselves to link and quote very selectively, thus seeding material for opponents of Ubuntu. By the way, Ubuntu has opponents even inside GNU/Linux. █
_____
* I still recommend Mandriva for new users, but at the time of my most recent install it didn’t have KDE 4.3.1 in a mature enough form.
My Kubuntu 9.10 desktop; Click for full-sized image (4.4 MB)
04.29.09
Mandriva Sets the Record Straight: No Microsoft Impact
Summary: Mandriva clarifies (again) that it is in no way involved in/a victim of Microsoft’s patent racketeering scheme
A GOOD NEW release of Mandriva will be out very soon and the company has just set the record straight after some question arose due to Manbo.
The short story is that Mandriva and Microsoft have nothing whatsoever to do with patent deals. It is reassuring to learn this from the following new update.
Adam has already unofficially dismissed rumours on François’ part, but still I feel like pointing out the obviousness everybody with some real knowledge of Mandriva should’ve spotted..
Let’s summarize arguments against silly speculations about Mandriva wanting to consider any Microsoft deal seen from my perspective:
1. Mandriva is europe based, not such big pressure in the ~only location where such agreements would hold much relevance
2. Mandriva has no proprietary components with any concerns of Microsoft
3. ALL of Mandriva’s software published is free and has been released under the GPL, proprietary software is none of Mandriva’s concerns, only proprietary software relationships is through partners
It is important to keep Mono out of Mandriva at all costs. Novell’s interference in GNU/Linux makes it increasingly hard and when I attempt to install certain software under Mandriva (even in KDE) it insists on installing Mono where it has become a dependency. It might be worth removing from the repository all software that somehow got tainted by Mono. There are many superb substitutes anyway. █
“At Microsoft I learned the truth about ActiveX and COM and I got very interested in it inmediately [sic].”
–Miguel de Icaza
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04.26.09
Microsoft Attacks GNU/Linux (Pardus) in Turkey, Dumps on Students
Summary: Turkey gradually moves to GNU/Linux starting with the administration, so Steve Ballmer pays a visit and pays the government
A LEOPARD (OR KARAKAL) CAN’T change its spots, even if any exist at all. And likewise, Microsoft is doing to Turkey what it did to Russia last week. One country after another, Microsoft is spending as much as necessary to derail GNU/Linux migrations that are massive.
Turkey was recently a victim of Windows and ODF Turkey was established some weeks ago. In addition, at the bottom we append a lot of evidence from the past 2 years about GNU/Linux adoption in the country, including the government. Pardus addresses the needs of the nation [1-4] and some people consider it to be one of the best distributions of GNU/Linux [5-40]. Even the Turkish army is moving to Pardus in very large numbers [17].
Now watch what Microsoft is doing in Turkey. [via FSDaily]
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in Ankara to announce the opening of Microsoft Innovation Center which is founded in Bilkent University. The most important task of Microsoft Innovation Center in this process will be “Microsoft Government Project”.
[...]
Ballmer said that the software projects have been developed in the scope of academics, students, financiers, health and education in the Microsoft Innovation Center. Microsoft, also, will try to attract the students with “DreamSpark Programme”.
As before, information about what DreamSpark really is can be found in:
- 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
The dumping technique is known (internally at least) as “EDGI” and we showed documents about it in:
- Is Microsoft ‘Pulling an EDGI’ on Kerala? (Updated)
- Microsoft Vice President Teaches PR People How to Spin Anti-Linux Programme
- Microsoft Dumps on India, South Africa, Malta
- At Microsoft, “Fear Uncertainty Doubt (TALKING POINTS)” is Formal Strategy
- Microsoft’s Dumping Strategy Versus GNU/Linux (EDGI Continued)
- Extended Windows 98 EOL to Block Government Migrations to GNU/Linux and Free Software; More ‘Donations’
- Microsoft on “Maintaining Gap vs Linux” Using “Patents“, “Children’s Software“
- Microsoft’s Internal Presentation on How to Fight GNU/Linux
- Microsoft Chief: “Under NO Circumstances Lose Against Linux”
- Microsoft’s EDGI in India: Fighting GNU/Linux in Education
- EDGI Finale: Microsoft’s “Linux Compete Squad”
Turkey should realise what Microsoft is up to and therefore reject those Trojan horses. The company from Redmond is being anti-competitive and it is trying to get this nation locked in even further so that it pays for such neglect in the future. Freedom and national Independence are priceless. █
__________
Policy
[1] Open source tour of Europe: Turkey
There are sporadic examples of Turkish open source projects. In August 2007 Turkey’s Military Recruitment Division, which is part of the Ministry of Defense, announced that it was switching to Pardus Linux on all of its 4,500 desktops and more than five hundred servers.
Pardus is also being used by Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council as part of its digital television archive and analysis project.
Meanwhile CentOS is used along with Apache and MySQL to power Yerelnet, a web site designed to encourage collaboration between local governments. Other early adepter success stories include Manisa Health Directorate, Petrol-Is, and Neziroglu Motors, all of which are using Pardus Linux.
While there are few examples of Turkish open source deployments to date there is reason to believe that may will be more in the future thanks to the fact that the Ministry of Education is teaching students to use and understand open source software as well as Windows as part of the IT curriculum.
[2] Kurdish operating system under investigation by Turkish attorney general
Previously, we reported that Kurdish Linux was launched in Turkey: Kurdish Ubuntu, a Linux distribution, was launched this week with a reception in Diyarbakir. Ubuntu was the first Linux distribution to implement Kurdish localization[1]. Kurdish localization in Linux was an important milestone for Turkey due to ethnic conflicts
[3] Kurdish Linux launched in Turkey
November 24, 2006
Kurdish Ubuntu, a Linux distribution, was launched this week with a reception in Diyarbakir. Ubuntu was the first Linux distribution to implement Kurdish localization
[4] Free Software Period To Begin In Public Organizations
A new and free software period, which brings the utilization of Linux-based operating systems with open source codes instead of Microsoft’s operating systems in computers, will begin in Turkish public organizations.
The first application will be performed in the Draft Department of the Ministry of National Defence where Turkey’s national software ‘Pardus’, developed by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), will be used as the basic operating system.
2008-2009
[5] News from Pardus
The Team works great in these days
We have Qt-Creator, Qt 4.5.0 and KDE 4.2.1 in our development repository just after release announcements
I HAVE written several articles about Pardus GNU/Linux since it first appeared on the Linux/Open Source scene in 2005, but in one report to coincide with the release of version 2007.3, I wrote the following introduction. ”Do you know what I love so much about Linux? It’s the feeling you get when you stumble upon a distribution that’s pure computing gold.”
[7] The Turkish Pardus Linux Distribution
Pardus provides a very important public good to be used by the whole FLOSS community, in Turkey and abroad. The Pardus GNU/Linux operating system is being deployed and used in many government and other public services including the Turkish military and defense sector, in radio and telecommunication, health and education, as well as private vendors. The use of Pardus in all these sectors and institutions will save several millions of Euro in taxpayers’ money.
I wonder why Pardus is such an unknown distribution. It is easy to install, has a great configuration center, and a good package management system with plenty of packages to fulfill most peoples needs. The people behind Pardus have spent a lot of time to create a distro that looks good and is stable. I believe my granny can work with Pardus without problems. No messing with config-files in any way, just install it and start working with it. I will continue to use Pardus and have advised others to give it a try.
Good job, Pardus team!
[9] Pardus Linux
Overall, though, working with Pardus has been a very pleasant surprise so far. A very auspicious start indeed.
[10] Pardus 2008 – Where were you?
Pardus is a very good distro, and should really be much higher on the Distrowatch rankings. They really do know what beautiful is Smile and includes a plethora of applications. I highly recommend this distro if you are just starting out using Linux or want to introduce Linux to someone else.
[11] Pardus 2008: A touch of refinement
My experience with Pardus was quite positive. The attention to detail, right down to skinning Amarok with the Pardus colors, is matched by the elegance of the installer and the efficacy of Kaptan and PiSi. Booting and running Pardus is quite speedy on my old AMD Sempron 2800+ with 512MB RAM; other distributions with similar features (such as Ubuntu) run slower on the same hardware. In short, I think Pardus is a distribution worth looking at for any Linux users who aren’t happy with their current choice.
[12] Pardus 2008 Review
Pardus 2008, to a green user, is your average desktop environment. Many of the gems of the system lie under the hood in utilities like TASMA and PiSi. It’s an easy system to get started with, but has some odd quirks such as PolicyKit problems and the somewhat hidden root account. In the end, it’s clear that a lot of effort went into making Pardus a usable desktop for anyone.
[13] Pardus 2008 review
Pardus 2008 is everything I could of asked for it looks good, plays all my multimedia, it’s super-fast/stable and it’s so easy even a Mac OS X user could easily adapt to it. Pardus has taken over my linux partition at the moment I consider it the best distribution available at this time; I won’t switch distribution anytime soon perhaps I may use Pclinuxos 2008 for reviewing purposes but it’ll be hard to top pardus 2008.
[14] Pardus 2008
After my review of do-it-yourself-Arch, I wanted to test a distro with a totally different philosophy, one that aims to give you a complete desktop system from the start. The problem was, I didn’t want to test Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Mandriva, Mint…those are too well known.
[...]
There’s no doubt that Pardus 2008 is one of the better Linux distributions out there. In the week I tested it I found not much wrong with the way it works, apart from an annoying tendency to forget some settings. It’s been reliable, stable, and relatively speedy. However, there is some work to be done before it can compete with the likes of Ubuntu, like providing an even more polished look, especially when it comes to the integration of GTK applications. It also needs better and more up-to-date documentation. Pardus is a very ambitious project, and so far, it doesn’t quite attain its goals just yet. I have no doubt however that it’s just a matter of time. In the meantime, it’s a viable alternative for anyone who isn’t satisfied with the offerings of the big-name distributions.
[15] Pardus 2008 : A testdrive
Pardus surprised me. Today it is listed as nr 49 on Distrowatch, but it deserves a place near or in the top-ten. It is a distro that has everything to become a major newcomer-friendly distro. It is a distro that I will use/propose (along with PCLinuxOS
[16] Pardus 2008 RC2
I love finding fault when reviewing products, services and software, so
consider this my standing ovation to Pardus for being nigh on faultless.
They’ve got a top notch operating system on their hands and I’m willing to
say this might be one of the best releases of 2008.
[17] Real answers to the question “Can you run your business on Linux and open source?”
He continued, “For the client OS migration, we are experiencing a large scale project for the Turkish Military now. 5.500 clients will migrate to Pardus (a Turkish government-backed Linux distribution.)”
[18] Battle of the Beasts: Wolvix vs. Pardus
Final Score:
Pardus = 7
Wolvix = 3
*Winner, Pardus!Conclusion:
Pardus won by quite a large margin mainly because in my own opinion it is more polished and complete than Wolvix. However, I can’t fully assume that Wolvix is the ultimately loser in this battle since my judgment was solely based on the results of my tests and on my hardware alone. To be really fair, I need other people’s opinion. So, to those who have also tried these two distros, feel free to give us your thoughts.
[19] There’s Something About Pardus
I’ve tried so many distros already and only few have left a lasting impression on me. Pardus Linux is now one of the very few. I just love almost every vital part of it. The system installer, the package manager, and the control center among others are all wonderfully crafted. I can tell that the developers took their time to really buff up this distro. I’m sorry to say though that Pardus is still pretty much underrated, because many distros are far more popular but are not as good as Pardus. Anyway, I’m so glad that I’ve tried Pardus, and I would highly recommend it to just about anyone who is still searching for a fully featured, easy-to-use, and quality Linux distro.
Pardus 2007.X
[20] Review: Pardus Linux 2007.2
Really, overall, I like Pardus a lot. I honestly have to admit that I was impressed. While it’s certainly not to the level of PcLinuxOS, it most definitely can hold its own against the major players in the Linux market. If you’re new to Linux, or a more seasoned user, you will definitely want to check it out. Right now I can’t give Pardus my official recommendation due to a few flaws mentioned above, the biggest being the package manager. However, if those few flaws are rectified, I don’t see why Pardus wouldn’t find its way onto my recommended distributions list. It really was one of the more enjoyable experiences I’ve had lately in all my testing. And I’ve definitely tested several different distributions lately, some of which were so bad, the only right thing to do was to burn the cd. 0_0;;
So reviewing Pardus was a breath of fresh air. I look forward to the next version of Pardus in hopes that it will have ironed out these last couple of problems so that I can, with a good conscience, add it to my recommended distributions list.
[21] Turkey’s Pardus distro is easy to use
Overall, Pardus lives up to the goals and statements made by its developers. It is indeed easy to install and even easier to use. Pardus is an accommodating and customizable desktop system suitable for new and experienced users alike.
[22] Pardus Linux 2007.3 Duyuruldu
Pardus Linux version 2007.3 is now released.
[23] Pardus 2007.2 — new cat in town
Pardus is one of those distributions that has something unique and intriguing. Caracal is nice, easy, and it works.
[24] Pardus Linux 2007.2 Review.
Pardus Linux is funded by the Turkish government. With the support from the government, I hope that Linux and open source software would be given more emphasis by the newly elected Turkey government.
[25] Pardus Linux 2007.2 Review
The last time I tried Pardus (around 6 months ago) there were frequent freezes, and I mean a lot; to such an extent that it did not allow me to do anything usefull to it. But I can see the effect of consistent hard work from pardus developors. Pardus is far from being complete but it is on the right track, may be one year from now, it will be shine amongst rest of distros.
I hope that with the recent release, Pardus will continue to climb the ranks and get closer to the top where it deserves to be. For those looking for a great out-of-the-box KDE-based distribution, I highly recommend giving Pardus a shot, you will not be disappointed. Unfortunately, as I have a few distributions lined up to review, I will be replacing Pardus with something new tomorrow! For those that can advocate further, regarding their use with Pardus, please post comments so other readers can see what you have experienced.
[27] Pardus 2007.2 – Unrivalled Wlan Support.
I managed to get these 5 wifi cards connected to my Linksys router via the WPA-PSK encryption protocol out-of-the-box with the help of the network manager. The connectivity was excellent. Despite still using the softmac stack instead of the devicescape stack, Pardus Kurulan 2007.2 (installation CD) managed to conquer all of these notebook-based wlan cards.
[28] Review: Pardus Linux 2007 Kurulan RC2
I’ve suddenly become an advocate for Pardus Linux. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing with this “Kurulan” RC2 release and actually find it as capable as some of the much bigger players that I tend to toy with. It may not have the biggest English community of all the distros but I hope that situation changes because this is actually an excellent release.
[29] Review: Pardus Linux 2007.1
Pardus is a relatively unknown release funded and developed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
[30] Pardus 2007.1 — Almost Perfect
Pardus is a unique distribution which has its own solutions which work very well. I think that the distribution deserves far greater renown than it has currently and if it keeps up such innovation and quality, it’ll be an important player in the category of extensive desktop distributions.
[31] Review: PCLinuxOS 2007 Test 3
I look forward to seeing how this distribution, like SimplyMEPIS, continues to improve and bring a friendly and comprehensive configuration system to Linux. New Linux users would do well to check out either of these distributions. However if you’re using a recent model Nvidia card, I have to recommend SimplyMEPIS over PCLinuxOS for its out of the box Nvidia driver support.
[32] Review: Pardus Linux 2007
I have not used this Pardus system for my production system. Only a few days I have used this system. I can see a lot of innovation are going on in this project. It is my dare saying that Pardus is worth to watch for further innovation in Desktop Linux.
[33] Pardus 2007.1: Warmly Recommended by Béranger pardus
Pardus 2007.1 deserves much more attention than PCLinuxOS 2007 or Kubuntu.
[34] A Second Look At Pardus 2007.1 RC: Surprises, Surprises
My first look at Pardus 2007.1 Release Candidate was somehow pessimistic, however I was confident in the future.
[35] A First Look at Pardus 2007.1 Release Candidate
As announced yesterday, an unexpected RC of the upcoming spring release 2007.1 of Pardus Linux was made available to the public.
[...]
Türkçesi, this is not a Release Candidate, this is more like an Alpha release. Or, judging by Mandriva’s quality standards, a Beta
[36] Pardus Linux 2007.1 Felis chaus: Released!
KDE 3.5.6, a faster PiSi, better networking for wireless users… release announcement and Distrowatch brief.
[37] Pardus gives Linux a custom lift
Apart from a KDE desktop and applications, the developers of the Pardus 2007 Linux distribution have built an entire distribution from scratch. Pardus, released last month, has its own multilingual installer, custom dependency-resolving package manager, and an INIT system that slashes boot times by several seconds. The distribution has come a long way since its first release in 2005, when it was based on Gentoo and lacked a package manager. Thanks to its custom tools, it’s one of the easiest Linux distribution to run and manage.
[...]
If you’ve been using a Linux distribution for some time, getting used to Pardus wouldn’t take long, despite all its custom tools. New users will appreciate the ease in carrying out out system tasks such as setting up firewalls and managing startup services. With its modest hardware requirements and streamlined boot scripts, Pardus could easily turn an old machine gathering dust into a modern Linux desktop.
[38] Pardus Linux 2007
Having seen dozens of Linux distributions announcing themselves with great enthusiasm only to disappear at the sight of a first problem a few months later, I am not easily impressed by any new arrival on the Linux distro scene. As such, when the first stable release of Pardus Linux was announced in 2005, I found myself inserting the installation CD with a considerable amount of scepticism.
[39] Pardus — a penguin from Turkey
ardus is a Turkish distribution that comes with KDE as the default desktop. It is however not just another pack of known open source apps.
[40] A Look at Pardus 2007.3 Lynx
Overall, I had a very positive experience with Pardus, considering I didn’t know what to expect going into it. I was very pleasantly surprised. It really has some innovative features and I like the approach a lot. I really like the fact that it’s backed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council Of Turkey–perhaps this guaranteed support enables the developers to be bolder in their approach, I don’t know. Either way, it’s great to see a national body supporting the development of open source software like this and I wish more nations would follow suit. It could really be beneficial to us all.
04.15.09
Does The Register Call Novell Opposers ‘Idealists’/'Purists’?
Clarification: If opposition to paying for unspecified software patents per GNU/Linux installation (even in countries that forbid software patents) is an ideal/purity, then The Register still misuses terminology
Scott Gilbertson from The Register has just published a review of SLED 11, but he is mixing together terms and ideas, presumably so as to characterise the Novell problem as one of “purity” or “ideals”. Whether it’s deliberate or not, Gilbertson forgets that very few distributions are considered “pure” in the sense that they comprise truly Free software; the FSF lists less than a dozen such distributions in fact. With Novell, the problem has almost nothing to do with binary versus Free software; it’s mostly about patents, formats, and letting Microsoft inherit (share) partial control of its competition.
Here is the bottom line from Gilbertson’s short review:
The bottom line? We definitely do not recommend SLED for the casual home user or the free-software purists.
The headline states “SLED 11: a distro for businesses, not idealists.”
Adam Williamson (formerly of Mandriva, now of Red Hat) has already corrected Gilbertson in the comments attached to this article. He does not write it on behalf of his employer.
It’s not about idealism. That’s not the point. The idealists run obscure distros because RMS believes the stock kernel is being evil by including binary firmware or whatever the hell he’s on about this week.
The Microsoft / Novell patent deal is fundamentally dangerous to all free software development, because it lends legitimacy to Microsoft’s “we own patents on all this stuff and you can’t touch it” stance. That has nothing whatsoever to do with idealism.
Please get it right.
Yes, it’s about patents. Just a day or so ago, the Utah press announced that Novell had obtained yet another software patent.
Method and apparatus for presenting, searching and viewing directories , patent No. 7,519,575, invented by Michel Shane Simpson and Brett Dee Garrett of Orem, Nathan Blaine Jensen of Spanish Fork and William Donald Peterson III of Provo, assigned to Novell Inc. of Provo.
This is just part of an endless series of software patents which Novell is collecting. Any promises Novell makes with regard to patents are utterly worthless because Novell is likely to be acquired by someone further down the line and its management can change too. Promises are not legal contracts.
Just look how SUSE is being promoted by the Microsoft crowd. Here’s part of a series of posts from Goblin:
- CHAKKARADEEP, OpenSUSE + Openbytes fopars with a capital W!
- Right of reply: Marshalus from Neowin – Wheres Chaks?
- CHAKKARADEEP – Right of reply?
In the meantime, he’s blocked Goblin, and I think thats another dubious poster exposed! Ill end on a slightly humorous note, we all know and love Andre Da Costa, another user who decided to block when he couldnt answer questions? It appears even he has had trouble with the Neowin site and its reporters:
“My case was deleted by a Moderator, I have moved on anyway, its in the past. But NeoWin needs to be open to criticism.”
There is a reference there to Andre Da Costa, whom Microsoft bribed with a free laptop because he’s promoting the company all around the Web.
As a side note, and speaking of Microsoft promotion, Miguel de Icaza admires Windows, according to one of our readers (maybe he dual-boots). Also, as we noted before, he created some software that runs on Windows only. “90% of what he shares in his Google Reader thing [is] related to Microsoft technologies,” says our informant whilst we keep seeing articles about Mono that only serve as marketing material for .NET. Mono is also promoting and spreading ASP now.
I know not everything in ASP.Net 2.0 is working in Mono, but its really satisfying to see that the team working on it have implemented the parts that are most interesting to everyday web developers. I’m looking forward to seeing what cool bits the next release of Mono will bring.
Going back to the comments from Gilbertson’s article, we find:
Here’re a few hints:
- GNOME was originally developed by Miguel de Icaza
- Miguel de Icaza then turned into a Microsoft fanboi
- Miguel de Icaza started and spearheaded the MONO project
- The MONO project is sponsored in large part by Novell
And as a bonus:
- Miguel de Icaza worked (at least for a while) at Microsoft.
You put it together. The circle is complete.
As far as we know, Miguel de Icaza never ever worked directly for Microsoft, but his colleague Nat Friedman did, and not just “for a while”. Miguel really wanted to work for Microsoft (he was not able to, but he tried) and he is a fan and acquaintant of LinuxHater. █
04.11.09
Leaked Microsoft Memo: How Microsoft Changes the Prices at OEMs to Block GNU/Linux Sales
Summary: Antitrust exhibit shows how Microsoft changes its pricing to suppress interest in Mandrake (GNU/Linux)
SOME PEOPLE wish to know why certain shop cease to sell GNU/Linux-powered computers (or sub-notebooks with GNU/Linux), or in some cases no longer make available GNU/Linux with comparable hardware. The truth of the matter is that Microsoft systematically sets the prices to deny GNU/Linux entry into the market.
We have just pulled an antitrust exhibit which shows what Microsoft is doing. As far as we are aware, this exhibit was never published or used by the courts before. The full exhibit (2003) [PDF] can be found as text at the bottom of this post. Here is the gist:
From: Brad Beadles
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 4:31 PM
To: Dale Watanabe
Co: Bret Arsenault; Scott Johnson (DENVER); Tim Schmidt (DENVER); David Brandt (DENVER); Ann Nicholson
Subject: LDS Church – Hewlett Packard
Importance: High[...]
Outside of the hardware they are considering alternatives to their current standard of Windows O/S and MS Works on the desktop in these local units. They are considering Mandrake, Debian, Red Hat and Open Office because of their upfront costs. HP is quoting their system to include both the Windows O/S ($80) and MS Works ($15) for an overall software acquisition cost of $95 for the O/S and Application Suite The Open Source alternatives are $8.50 for the O/S of choice which is currently Madrake (Open Office is $0.00). As you can see, we have a price delta of $85 between the MS solution and the Open Source solution.
Is there anything we can do with/for HP to lower the O/S cost to become more competitive? Dell is quoting $30 for the O/S and the MS Works product team is giving us $25 for MS Works for a price point of $55 for the Dell software acquisition costs.
Microsoft talks about becoming “more competitive”. To understand what Microsoft means by that, this antitrust exhibit should be read. █
Appendix: Comes vs. Microsoft – exhibit px08618, as text
02.17.09
German Press on Novell Shafting Its German Employees
Novell not committed to S.u.S.E.
AS ONE OF our readers put it, he knew it would be bad news when an American proprietary software company, Novell, bought a darling of Europe, which was competing closely on the desktop against Mandriva.
It was a particularly quiet week for OpenSUSE last week and it turned out, based on two independent sources (one is private), that Novell’s core SUSE developers were affected by low-key layoffs.
Is Novell moving further towards GNU/Linux and open source as it so boldly claims or is it running further back to development of proprietary technologies and Microsoft copycats that only weaken GNU/Linux and open source?
The following article from the Germany-based Linux Pro Magazine rightly expresses disappointment, according to gentle signs in the writing style.
ovell openSUSE: Development Ebbing?
[...]
Of the 160 openSUSE workers, around 30 (or 20%) were affected by the layoff.
Novell does not want either to confirm or deny any cuts in the popular Linux distro’s development and still defers to last week’s announcement. Financial results are expected February 26.
We are hardly able to find OpenSUSE news this week and the only article found so far is not favourable to OpenSUSE.
Open SuSE 11.1
I knew there would be issues with this machine, simply because it is more than 5 years old. In the case of OpenSuSE, it appears that the integrated video card is the main weakness. Or at least it was a jumbled display that kept me from getting very far. I did try several of the screen options from the default to 800×600 to VESA. Nothing seemed to be working. I’m sure some of you could have done some command line magic to make it work, but I’m only going so far on a live CD. The purpose of the live CD is to see if the program works on my hardware, and in this case, OpenSuse would not. I may try it on my laptop just to see how it looks and does on more modern hardware.
Is it time to branch out of SUSE and rid this good project from the bad name of Novell, including the encumbrances it imposes on OpenSUSE? █
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