Blast from the Past: Jack Messman Speaks Open Source (Video)

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2007-02-04 10:48:39 UTC
Modified: 2007-02-04 10:48:39 UTC

Jack Messman, the former CEO of Novell, speaks about Linux and Open Source in the following old video. It is worth mentioning that negotiations with Microsoft only began after Messman stepped down (rather passively).

At the time, Novell argued that Jack Messman's departure would give priority to Linux. This exemplifies the meaning of the phrase "Better the Devil You Know (Than the One You Don't Know)".

Recent Techrights' Posts

Summer Plans in Tux Machines: July is nearly upon us
Saying "No" is Not a Bad Thing: Society benefits from people who say "No!" even when it seems impolite (and possibly inconvenient) to say so
Next Week's "Bloodbath" at Microsoft Includes "Silent Layoffs" (Which Microsoft Won't Count): The notion of "silent layoffs" is fast becoming the "new normal"
XBox Being Discontinued, Some Models of XBox Canceled, Not on Sale Anymore: First some of the largest retailers quit stocking/selling XBox, now a 2TB model is axed
Don't Settle for Slop: Slop is a bit of a symptom of where society is told to go
TIGER COMPUTING LTD Sent Us Threats Half a Decade Ago (Because of Criticism of Their In-House Debian Developer), Now the Company's Debt is Deepening: So what is they're connected to the military?
GNU/Linux in Mexico Near All-Time High: With all the tourists packing the place (or hotels) we can imagine big changes to be seen next month (many portable devices)
Gopher (Protocol) Turns 35, Gemini is 28 Years Younger: Bad technology comes and goes very fast
Be Like Stallman and Assange, Not Like MElon or Bill Epsteingate: these people treat women like worse than dirt
Exposure Leads to More Whistleblowing: In areas like IBM or European patent affairs we've always earned a lot of trust
European Patent Office (EPO) Series Will Run Well Into July: We still have a very significant chunk of EPO "trench" stories
Links 27/06/2026: Journalists Kicked Out of China, Torture in Iran and Turkey: Links for the day
How Microsoft is Preventing or Slowing Down Adoption of GNU/Linux (Fake 'GNU' Controlled by GitHub in Windows, WSL, Sabotage at Boot Level, Not Limited to Dual-Booting): Microsoft is still at it
Rising Computer Prices Good News for GNU/Linux and Free Software: This can greatly assist the adoption of BSDs and GNU/Linux
Links 27/06/2026: More Restrictions on Social Control Media and Russia is Leveraging Cellebrite/Back Doors: Links for the day
Akira Urushibata on the Likely False (Unverifiable) Claims Anthropic Makes About Defects for Marketing/Hype: Some pro-LLM person has managed to derail the discussion on this topic
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: "Team Campinos" in Split: The EPO team was of course headed by Campinos himself who delivered a "forward-looking" keynote speech to the assembled audience consisting mainly of Administrative Council delegates from the national IP offices
Supporting Women in the Free Software Community: The common theme here is abuse of women
Left IBM After Many Years, Came to Microsoft/XBox, Now Silent Layoffs at XBox: many inside XBox will have their last day next week
Gemini Links 27/06/2026: Homeworlds and Tarot Cards: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 26, 2026: IRC logs for Friday, June 26, 2026
Links 26/06/2026: SoftBank Forbids Mentioning That Slop is a Scam, "'We Need Courageous People' to Combat Greed and Corruption": Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/06/2026: "Negativity of Reddit" and "Moving Blog to Gemini": Links for the day
Same MIT Site That Fabricated the Fake News for IBM is Still Being Paid to Produce Fake "Reports" That Prop Up a Ponzi Scheme: If this is the media we deserve as a society and believe keeps us informed, then we are all doomed
'Social' Slop: The Social Control Media and Slop Crises Are Converging: Social Control Media and slop may have a shared fate. People will shun them both.
Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF) Speaks Out Against Campinos and Informs the Chairman of the EPO Administrative Council: Does Mr. Kratochvíl pay any attention at all?
'António the Pretender' Campinos is Digging His Own Grave With Grotesque Lobbying Intended to Undermine Democracy in Europe's Second-Largest Institution: One way or another, the EPO will never be the same again
The Principle of "Do No Harm": "Do No Harm" is a common saying
After Years of Bluewashing People Who Are Still Labelled "Red Hat" Suddenly 'Leave' (Might be PIPs), IBM in "Forever Layoffs" Loop: Remember that Red Hat had mass layoffs this year
Microsoft Staff Bracing for Impact Ahead of "Layoffs Lottery": some people start to assess who will get culled next
Donald Trump and IBM's CEO: Twins Separated at Birth, Saturating the Media With False Reports About Things That Don't Exist: Every "journalist" that went ahead with this fake news should be sacked on the spot for a rejection of fact-checking
The Register MS Will Become Indistinguishable From Spamfarms at This Current Pace: Follow the money...
Microsoft Layoffs Have Already Begun in Its PR Department: It is called Waggener Edstrom
Techrights Community as Litigants in Person (LIPs): Unwittingly and due to circumstances we're had to step in to protect women abused by monstrous men who lack empathy
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Rest and Recuperation on the Adriatic Coast: The EPO President's connections with the Croatian SIPO date back to his days as head of the EU trademark agency EUIPO
Firehose of Spam (Fake News) From The Register MS Today: This is how awful the state of news sites really is
Slopfarms Becoming Scarce and Few (or Inactive): we'll try to refrain from even giving the remaining slopfarms any visibility
The Register MS Promotes Things That Do Not Exist... for Money: How much more ZTE spam will come out before 5PM?
Links 26/06/2026: RIP, Om Malik, 1966-2026: Links for the day
Memory Leaks Suck: Slop ('vibe') coding means lots of bad programs
Natural Disasters and Personal Disasters: Thank you, Om Malik, for the positive memories
Gemini Links 25/06/2026: Life Philosophy and Misery: Links for the day
GAFAM Became a Mainstream Term, and Why Words Matter: Conveying problems in useful terms [...] Impairing propaganda attempts (e.g. calling parrots "intelligence", back doors "confidential", and outsourcing "cloud") should be the first step
European Patent Office (EPO) on Strike Today, Next Week Another Historic Week: If you live in Europe, contact your delegates today
FSF FreeJS Project (Part of the GNU Project's Goals) Advanced Further in 2026: They're moving to reduce dependence on anything to do with Microsoft
SLAPP Censorship - Part 119 Out of 200: Our Suggestions to Our Politicians and Heads of State: coverage about SLAPPs and related matters
Microsoft Already Closing Down Studios, According to Some Publishers: It is being compared to what happened in Intel
IBM PIP Stories Told in Public, Fake IBM News (Fabricated Claims) Drown Media Sites: IBM is seeding fake news to help justify the bailout
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 25, 2026: IRC logs for Thursday, June 25, 2026
Microsoft Falls to Lowest Value Since 2023: Microsoft can come back down to somewhere below $100
This Could be the Start of Microsoft's Biggest Wave of Layoffs in 50+ Years: This is what it looked like for Intel a few years ago
The Register MS is Promoting a Pyramid Scheme for Money, But It Is Over 6 Million Pounds in Debt: How much lower can the reputation of this publisher sink?
Gemini Links 25/06/2026: Unix-like People and NeoGeo: Links for the day
Members of the Delegations in the EPO's Administrative Council Told That Amid Unrest Campinos Must Go; a Year of EPO Strikes Means It's Time to Change Leadership: Which strategy is needed for the European Patent Organisation?
The Cyber Show on How Data is Misused and Broadcast is Abused to Crush Resistance to Harmful Technology: We recently published a number of articles about how Computer Science is coming under attack
Increasing Participation Rates in Staff Representatives' Elections at the European Patent Office (EPO): The industrial actions seem to have brought colleagues closer together
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (Could Not Wait 'Til July): Microsoft's biggest layoffs round in 50+ years?
Assessing the "Worth" of a Life: Don't let blunt plutocrats decide whether Venezuelans deserve sympathy or not
Planning 20-Year Techrights Event: Interested people can contact us in IRC
Links 25/06/2026: Earthquakes Strike Venezuela, Conflict of Interest in Kangaroo Court UPC: Links for the day
More Weight of IBM's Stock is Ascribed to Lies and Things That Do Not Exist: Turning stones into gold?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 118 Out of 200: Exposing Crimes is Not a Crime, It is a Public Service: We will soon enter the sixth year of lawfare
Links 25/06/2026: "Why We Need Seed Legislation" and XBox Chaos Predicted by Insiders: Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/06/2026: Hobbies Change, Young love, Strange Encounter, and Raspberry Pi Zero W: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 24, 2026: IRC logs for Wednesday, June 24, 2026