Bonum Certa Men Certa

Open Source Initiative President Requests a “No” to Microvell

And LinuxToday Managing Editor calls Novell "little better than a branch of Microsoft"

TUESDAY brought an important press release from Novell -- one that was a direct attack on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and its clone/s. The key points to take from prior posts about this subject [1, 2, 3] are:

  1. Novell helps Microsoft more than it helps GNU/Linux
  2. Novell is just about as unethical as Oracle


This subject is now being discussed in a variety of Web sites. As readers may be aware, Novell's launch of an anti-Red Hat program generally puts trust in greater jeopardy. It stifles cooperation between Linux vendors. To quote Steve Stites:

One thing that the article does not talk about is Microsoft's reasons for helping Novell try to win customers from Red Hat. I think that Microsoft's main reason is to try to pressure Red Hat into signing a disadvantageous software patent agreement with Microsoft.

So far Microsoft's attack on Red Hat seems to be bearing insignificant results. Red Hat is doing great financially and shows no fear of Microsoft's software patent attack.


Novell poses a danger now, so Michael Tiemann (OSI President) has replied to Steve:

Tell Microsoft/Novell "no!" and reward Red Hat's good behavior with continued business. I think it's pretty obvious to say that the more strongly you vote your values by buying from Red Hat, the faster we can change the status quo in the software marketplace.


The OSI linked to Boycott Novell in the past and so have other notable Web sites, including the front page of OpenOffice.org. To suggest that there is no resentment of the Novell deal is to pretend that people don't reserve their judgment because of their employer, which might frown upon unnecessary (even spurious) controversy.

Sincerely speaking, I wish OpenSUSE people realised what type of company watches over their shoulder. The theory from Steve Stites says that Microsoft hopes to pressure Red Hat -- using Novell -- until Red Hat sells out too (never mind the GPLv3). In response to this, said Steve Stites:

"Another facet of the same problem is that the rest of open source can no longer trust Novell coders. Are Novell employees producing code to advance open source or to advance the Microsoft-Novell attack on open source?"

Also mind this opinion.

There is nothing wrong with "voting with your wallet." I liked and supported SuSe until the secret patent agreement between Microsoft and Novell. (Since then we no longer use Novell products.) People forget that a corporation is basically a "fake individual" - It is time that we held our corporations to the same standards that we hold our citizens.


Glyn Moody, a well-known Linux journalists, protests against it also. He covered the latest development under the headline "Novell's Faustian Pact."

But many see Novell's actions as offering succour to an avowed enemy of free software (ignore friendly noises emanating from some middle managers of the company, and pay attention to what its boss says and does).

This seems to be directly harmful to the larger commons that Novell depends upon, notably in terms of strengthening Microsoft FUD about alleged (but always unspecified) infringements of its intellectual monopolies by open source code.


Does anyone still give Novell the benefit of the doubt?

Last night, Sam Varghese published an article accusing Novell of cannibalising the Linux market.

Earlier this year, there was evidence that things were not exactly rosy at Novell, with Microsoft deciding to invest an additional $100 million for the purchase of certificates which customers could redeem for SUSE Linux service and support.

Back to the announcement ; some of the prose employed tells its own tale. Justin Steinman, vice-president of Solution and Product Marketing at Novell, is quoted as saying: “As the Linux market matures, we are increasingly being approached by customers who want to move to SUSE Linux Enterprise, attracted by Novell's award-winning support, superb interoperability in mixed-source environments, and by our support for mission critical applications."

The Linux market matured a long time back and if one has to cite awards to justify one's competence in the field of operating systems, then one is really beginning to clutch at straws.

And as to mission critical applications, is he trying to say that Red Hat does not offer equal - and, in my opinion, better - support?

Red Hat has wisely chosen to stay mum. I am sure that the people at the top knew quite well what kind of reaction this Novell marketing manoeuvre would bring forth.

What's next, Novell? Lehman Brothers share certificates for those who buy SUSE Linux?


As always, Carla Schroder is a little more gentle. In particular, she defends the OpenSUSE community:

Novell-- meh. Once upon a time they were a determined, though unfortunately incompetent competitor to Microsoft. They had a network OS that supported pretty much anything you could throw into it, with all of the identity management and resource management and interoperability you could want. Now they're little better than a branch of Microsoft. It's a good thing the openSUSE project is slowly becoming more independent, because SUSE is worth salvaging.


Got that? The Managing Editor of LinuxToday calls Novell "little better than a branch of Microsoft."

Microvell

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
 
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025