Novell's Newsletter is Out
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2008-12-05 19:22:47 UTC
- Modified: 2008-12-05 19:22:47 UTC
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Links 10/01/2026: "Abolish ICE or GTFO", Calls to Ban X/Twitter From Apple/Google App Stores (or Implement National Blocks) Over MElon Turning It Into Non-consensual Deepfake Porn Site
- Links for the day
- EPO People Power - Part XXX - New Year Starts, Cocainegate Still Discussed a Lot, António Campinos Desperate for Distraction From It
- Why the sudden change or 'generosity'? [...] Actual cocaine addicts caused nervous breakdowns among sober people
- IBM and Microsoft Hiding Layoffs in Similar, Overlapping Ways
- Performance Improvement Plans aplenty
- IBM is a Cancer That Attaches Itself to Everything
- Red Hat should have remained an independent company
- Plot Twist: Microsoft MSN Relays Articles Hinting at or Pointing to Mass Layoffs Soon, Other Gossip
- the narrative from Microsoft's "PR bunny" (Shaw) is showing mold already
- 'Vibe Coding' is Not "AI", It's a Sewer, It is Junk
- Linus Torvalds was wrong. 'Vibe coding' isn't good for anything.
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- GAFAM Wants War
- Go war! Go bailouts! Go debt! Go Wall Street!
- GNOME Foundation's Microsoft Developer Account
- "Lately they're teaming up with Mozilla to eliminate middle click paste - something which I use continuously."
- GNU/Linux and Chromebooks Rose to Almost 10% in Haiti
- What's noteworthy is that this month GNU/Linux is measured at around 8% and ChromeOS at about 2%
- 2026 Might be the Year Microsoft Replaces Layoffs With Mass Firings (No Severance Payments to Dismissed Staff)
- It's hard to "see" PIPs unless insiders blow the whistle
- Links 10/01/2026: STV Layoffs (Scottish TV), “CBS Evening News” in Chaos (Culls and Censorship by the US Regime)
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 09, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, January 09, 2026
- Gemini Links 10/01/2026: Blackout, E-Waste, and Secondary Smartphone
- Links for the day
- Links 09/01/2026: Google and Character.AI Implicitly Accept Chatbots Kill Kids and GLP-1 ‘Slimming Pens’ Turn Out to be a Lot Worse Than Advertised
- Links for the day
- GNU/Linux May be Approaching 10% "Market Share" in Montenegro
- The surge started around 2021
- At IBM, "Employee Reviews" (or Appraisals in the UK) Are a "Trojan Horse" for RAs (Mass Layoffs), a Waste of Time
- comments from IBMer serve to suggest that appraisals can be precursors
- Links 09/01/2026: Technical Blogging Lessons Learned and Google's Gmail Getting a Lot Worse
- Links for the day
- More IBM Layoffs in India
- If IBM cannot afford to retain workers in India, then something is truly "out of control" at IBM
- Escaping GAFAM Colonialism Requires Homegrown Free Software
- GNU/Linux now measured at 3% in Zambia
- Dr. Richard Stallman Has Done No Harm to the GNU Project or the FSF (He Had Benefited Both, Always, Even After the Attacks on Him Began)
- Some people try to prevent Dr. Stallman from speaking or having a platform where many people can hear him
- GNU/Linux at 4% in Saudi Arabia, Says statCounter
- Some years ago Windows fell to a "market share" of just 11% there
- Microsoft Isn't Denying the Mass Layoffs
- Still silence from Microsoft
- In Western Africa GNU/Linux Flirts With 5% Market Share
- there's a gradual increase in GNU/Linux usage there
- Gemini Links 09/01/2026: Pro1 X Repair and the Mercury Protocol
- Links for the day
- Links 09/01/2026: Cambodia and China Extradition, "NATO’s High-risk Patrols Near Ukraine"
- Links for the day
- No, Microsoft Did Not Deny the Q1 Mass Layoffs (Microsoft Can Delay These)
- Maybe they disperse or delay the layoffs (changing plans), but the layoffs are going to happen
- Only One Person in Charge of Fedora is Not IBM Staff
- This is not a community project, it's just a way for IBM to onboard unpaid volunteers
- This Is Not a Drill, GNU/Linux is Really Going 'Mainstream' on Laptops (and Desktops)
- It is important to explain to people software freedom
- IBM Albany Layoffs
- not only did many in the site lose their job; there's more to come "and likely another one in February" (weeks from now)
- EPO Workers' Industrial Action to Include Many Strikes, to Last Several Months
- In some ways, The Hague and Bavaria are becoming almost indistinguishable from Moscow
- EPO People Power - Part XXIX - Getting DER SPIEGEL, FAZ, Deutschlandfunk and Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) to Cover EPO Scandals
- We kindly ask our readers to contact their local media and urge it to cover the scandals
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 08, 2026
- IRC logs for Thursday, January 08, 2026
- Gemini Links 08/01/2026: "New Year, Old Plans" and Alex's "Butlerian Jihad"
- Links for the day
- LLM Slop About "Linux" Scarce and of Very Low Quality
- At this rate, we reckon there may be one (or zero) per day by year's end
- IBM's "Forever Layoffs" (to Bypass Warnings or Notices as Required by WARN Act)
- There is a bunch of speculations about when the next "major round" of RAs will be
- Attempts to Undermine This Site's Latest Series Using Intimidation, Threats, and Presumptuous Accusations
- threatening language is less effective when everyone is an alibi
- Links 08/01/2026: "Golden Smartphone" Scam and Riseup Account Issues
- Links for the day
- Links 08/01/2026: Possible "Collapse of NATO Over Greenland"; Journalistic Malpractice and "US Voters Hate Slop"
- Links for the day
- EPO People Power - Part XXVIII - A Sensitive Issue for Germany and The Netherlands
- If Germans who read this series can communicate this to public officials or to their media, maybe they can strike a nerve and get the ball rolling
- Age Discrimination at IBM Discussed Amid Mass Layoffs (Especially in the United States)
- Workers are anxious. Are they next to face the axe?
- Gemini Links 08/01/2026: Potentiometer Calculator, Power Outages, Why You Should Abandon Discord for IRC (e.g. Ergo), and Formatting Gopher Posts
- Links for the day
- Links 08/01/2026: More Software Patents Squashed, White House Repeats Misinformation From the Kremlin
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 07, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, January 07, 2026
Comments
Ian
2008-12-05 20:28:37
Roy Schestowitz
2008-12-05 20:30:44
Ian
2008-12-05 20:31:53
Josh Bell
2008-12-05 20:40:15
Roy Schestowitz
2008-12-05 20:47:06
I just think it's quite a way to open the newsletter.
Ian
2008-12-05 21:05:22
Not for a company that probably has 95% of its customer base running Windows on the desktop and have windows servers in their data centers. Unfortunately(or fortunately, depending on your point of view of course), the reality is most "enterprise" level shops have to deal with Windows and many are mixed shops.
G. Michaels
2008-12-06 06:32:07
Note: writer of this comment adds absolutely nothing but stalking and personal attacks against readers, as documented here.
mike
2008-12-06 08:20:44
There's definitely a little bit of `fail', in that.
Ian - yes, and they've had to deal with it for a very long time, it isn't a new thing. And in fact that is how 'linux' became to be used in many companies in the first place. Running Samba. Nothing to do with any patent deal or proprietary `value add' software.
(And what's that Josh guy on about, did he post on the right site?).
Josh Bell
2008-12-06 12:52:46
You don't know what software they used to make the newsletter so pointing to that doesn't make sense and does it matter?
Where I usually have an issue with Roy is the site is boycottnovell. Usually in a boycott you want the company to change. This is not Roy's point any longer. Roy has stated in the IRC that the only solution now for Novell and Microsoft to fail. He no longer is boycotting, he's wishing for a death knell for two companies with thousands of worldwide employees.
jo Shields
2008-12-06 12:55:00
Roy Schestowitz
2008-12-06 13:02:57
twitter
2008-12-06 16:59:07
It's a shame that Novell has spent it's time making the Windows cesspool more bearable instead of promoting the free alternatives. This is a business model that failed in the 90s. It's no coincidence then that Novell's stock price tanked in 1993 and has never really recovered. M$ defeated its servant and now uses them for more trouble. The closer you are to M$, the faster you fail.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-12-06 17:17:25
G. Michaels
2008-12-06 20:09:34
Oh, I'm glad I saved this link a few months ago, apropos lecturing others about "humor".
I believe people call it "the Ali-Baba post" on Slashdot, where you're quite the legend.
Note: writer of this comment adds absolutely nothing but stalking and personal attacks against readers, as documented here.