Bonum Certa Men Certa

SD Times Says That VMware Wants Novell for Mono, Not GNU/Linux

Miguel de Icaza and other Microsoft MVPs



Summary: Suggestion that the Microsoft-stuffed VMware may want to just chew Mono and neglect/spit out the rest of SUSE; more news from Oracle and SCO, which help not at all on the patent/copyright front

DUE TO the problems with Mono dangers becoming widespread knowledge, Mono has earned its deserved "perception issue". Mono as a dependency in any piece of software is a deterrent, not a feature. No wonder a Mono booster posts another face-saving article ("Mono mythbusting") right now, adding to Novell's AstroTurfing in this site (from Novell IP addresses). They desperately try to shoot the messenger (including yours truly) and sell the illusion of .NET being the best thing since sliced bread.



Those former Microsoft executives who plan to buy SUSE [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] (here is another article that we missed) are said to be interested in it because of Mono (maybe the older headline was "VMWare wants Novell for Mono, not Linux" because that's how it appears in Tux Machines, which does not modify headlines although Google cache does not display it that way). From the new article which claims this we learn that:

The Wall Street Journal reports that VMware is going to buy SuSE Linux from Novell. What, exactly, that would leave Novell, I can't really say. But I think I know exactly why VMware wants SuSE, and it's got very little to do with actual Linux. It's not about the Linux so much as it is about the Mono.

You see, VMware has Microsoft squarely in its sights. The current game plan for the company is to grab up frameworks and supporting infrastructure to allow VMware to squeeze platform players out of the equation. The biggest such platform is Windows. So, what do you do if you want your customers to cut out one of their vendors, while still allowing those companies to reap the benefits of having dozens of .NET applications? Why, you buy up an open source implementation of .NET.


If SUSE gets sold to a company not dominated by Microsoft influence, Mono will probably perish along with Moonlight (which helps Microsoft sell the dying Silver Lie [1, 2, 3, 4]). So maybe it's a strategic move for Microsoft too. This type of acquisition lets people with a long career at Microsoft manage .NET from all fronts. Techrights correctly predicted this type of acquisition back in 2009 when Novell transitioned from a 4-part company into a dual-operation company.

“Techrights correctly predicted this type of acquisition back in 2009 when Novell transitioned from a 4-part company into a dual-operation company.”One has to remember that the source of the claim, SD Times, has quite a history promoting .NET and occasionally Mono as well (Microsoft is one of the magazine's biggest advertisers). Now that Microsoft is said to try to capitalise on Java FUD (mostly Oracle-imposed) it can make all the difference in the world. Oracle is already trying to calm developer fears, as we noted briefly in earlier posts. The following remarks are being made about OpenJDK:

“Oracle will work with the OpenJDK code base and the OpenJDK community like Sun did,” blogged Henrik Stahl, senior director of product management for the Java Platform Group at Oracle. “We will continue to develop the JDK in the open under a GPL licence.

“We welcome the cooperation and contribution of any member of the community - individuals as well as organisations - who would like to be part of moving the most widely used software platform forward."


With catchy words like "SCOracle" out and about, some people already paint Java as a risk/threat. SCO tried to do the same thing to Linux and right now it's just giving up and selling everything that's left in its possession (covered before):

SCO Group is again attempting to sell its assets. The company states in a press statement that the "asset sale will be free and clear of liens and encumbrances pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code." The company calls for a bid by close of business, October 5, 2010. The purchase price for the UNIX software assets will be determined in connection with the auction sale.


Groklaw suspects there might be a connection between Oracle's action and Apple [1, 2, 3]. It also suspects that SUSE's sale might be related to the sale of SCO's assets. "My question is," wrote Pamela Jones, "might the timing of all this be connected with the rumored sale of Novell? Not to be cynical, but with SCO, I always assume there will be vultures."

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

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
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
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
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
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?
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
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025
Links 30/03/2025: Security Breaches, Crackdowns on Dissent/Rival Politicians
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: London Soundtrack Festival, Superbloom, gmiCAPTCHA
Links for the day
Phasing Out Vista 10 in Nations Where ~90% of Windows Users Still Rely on It
Recipe for another Microsoft disaster
The Cost of Pursuing the Much-Needed Reform/Shield Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
The LLM Bubble is About to Implode, Gimmicks and Financial Shell Games Cannot Prevent That, Only Delay It
To inflate the bubble MElon is now doing the classic trick of buying from oneself for a fictional value
Links 30/03/2025: Contagious Ideas, Signal Leak, and Squashing Lousy Patents
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: "Quantum Randomness" and "F-1 Visa Revoked" in US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: US as a Threat, Returning to the WWW
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: Judge Blocks Dismantling Of VOA, Turkey Arrested Many Journalists
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 29, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 29, 2025