Bonum Certa Men Certa

Hewlett-Packard Very Likely to Turn More Hostile Towards GNU/Linux

Willem van Miieris - Der Apotheker (~1710)
Der Apotheker



Summary: HP has been poisoned by Apotheker, whose long career took place in the "Microsoft of Europe" (SAP)

AS FAR as GNU/Linux at HP goes, the latest news (CEO appointment) is terrible for reasons we gave yesterday, but Microsoft's booster Gavin Clarke pretends that the Windows versus GNU/Linux dimension does not exist at all (HP is a platforms company too) and instead he just apparently tries to make Oracle look bad (Oracle picked Hurd right after HP had ejected him under mysterious circumstances [1, 2, 3, 4]). Clarke for example suggests:



Apotheker's hiring would suggest HP hasn't forgiven Ellison's remarks or forgotten. In fact, it has put a big fat reminder in Ellison's face about who it's dealing with by hiring some SAP blue blood. Apotheker's presence reminds Oracle that HP is its own company and his presence suggests HP will leverage its business' relationship with SAP in joint customers and work to deliver SAP apps on HP hardware as an alternative to Oracle.


Citing articles like the above and also this one, Mr. Pogson is surprisingly optimistic. He thinks that "Apotheker will no doubt have a global view of IT and may be friendly to GNU/Linux on desktop and server. They could increase margins by pushing GNU/Linux instead of that other OS. At SAP, Apotheker had no problem with customers running SAP on GNU/Linux." (as long as it was Microsoft's GNU/Linux, aka "Ballnux"). As the only comment on the post puts it, "If anything, I think Apotheker will make HP more unfriendly to free software. It is really debatable why Hurd was ousted. I happen to think he is removed by Microsoft because he engaged HP in free software “too much”. Acquisitions of Palm and Phoenix Linux BIOS tech as well contributions to GNOME and Linux kernel put HP on Microsoft’s hit list. Microsoft declared HP a threat in SEC fillings. Now Apotheker comes from proprietary company which is Microsoft ally. Make no mistake, SAP is enemy of free software. They feel the burn, and their business practices are incompatible with free software as much as Microsoft’s. SAP had a try when they released MaxDB under GPL, but they abandoned it after some time and continued supporting proprietary version. Since Apotheker lack experience with being a CEO (he was SAP CEO for only about a year) he will probably leave lots decision making to his underlings. And chief of HP software division is a Microsoft guy, appointed right about after Palm acquisition."

"Where are we on this Jihad?"

--Bill Gates talking about eliminating Linux at Intel

Recent Techrights' Posts

BetaNews Appears to Have Fired All Of Its Staff
Even serial sloppers
Gemini Protocol Turns 6 on Friday
Active (online) Gemini capsules are estimated by Lupa at over 3,000
Microsoft's "FUD-as-a-Service" (Against Linux) Not Functioning Well
This is the kind of contribution companies like Microsoft and Google have to offer to society
Betanews Becoming a Slopfarm is "Betanews Growing Alongside You", According to Betanews
Their first 'article' in over two weeks is 52% "AI-generated" (slop), 33% mixed (edited slop), 18% human-written, says an advanced scanner.
 
The Right to Know and the Freedom to Report on Crime (at the Higher Echelons)
I'd like to do the same thing for the next 20 years
After the Web Becomes Slopped to Death
A lot of people are rightly fed up with the "modern" Web
Microsoft's Windows is a Niche Operating System in Africa
African nations aren't a large contributor to Microsoft's income, but if many African nations move away from Windows, then the monopoly is at risk
Like Most Social Control Media, Microsoft LinkedIn is Collapsing
One reason for Microsoft acquisitions is debt-loading, i.e. offloading and burying its debt
Microsoft is Losing Its Richest Clients
Unlike some very poor countries, Germany and the EU are a considerable source of income to Microsoft
Proprietary Means Not Secure
Proprietary software tends to rely on secrecy, not good design
Slop in 'AI' Clothing is a Passing Fad, We'll Get Past It (Like Blockchain Before That)
Many people cheat in exams using slop and there are professionals that try using slop as a "shortcut"
GNOME Does Not Campaign Against Microsoft, KDE Does
It's good to see that KDE is still active in promotion of Free software - a term that it uses
Slopwatch: BetaNews, Linuxsecurity, and Other Prolific Slopfarms
name and shame the sites that establish such proliferation of slop
Gemini Links 18/06/2025: Birch Lake and Loon Pond
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Links 17/06/2025: "The Grift Economy" and Kubernetes Does Proprietary
Links for the day
Coffee Day and LLM Sloppers
The LLM slop "bros" are a lot like fake-money bros; they lie to people, they boast that they lie to people, and they're generally bad people, BS artists in colloquial terms
Double-Dipping the Docket for Microsoft Glory and Censorship of Microsoft Critics
same lawyer, same barrister, all US, all Microsoft
TheLayoff Censorship of IBM Threads Has Gone Truly Ludicrous
we do not argue that TheLayoff should not cull LLM slop
More Stallmanites Added to FSF Board and Summer Fundraiser Commences
There's some good news from the FSF
Gemini Links 17/06/2025: Consistency and Notes About NixOS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 16, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 16, 2025
July 2 2025 Would Not be First Big Wave of Microsoft Layoffs Before Major National Holiday
July 2 or 3 mark the start of a very long weekend in the US
IDG's NetworkWorld Seems to Have Just Become LLM Slop
If IDG (now controlled by China) does that in at least one site, why not the rest? Only a matter of time?
Gemini Links 16/06/2025: Free Lunches and Bookmarklet for Mastodon
Links for the day
IBM: Less Than a Month's Severance for Each Decade of Service
Yes, decade!
Taking a Lesson From Denmark and Greenland? Iceland Shows New Lows for Windows, All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
If Microsoft sabotages systems of judges at the Hague (in order to appease the insane man who wanted to invade Greenland), why won't its neighbour Iceland take note?
BetaNews Has Just Deleted Its Latest 'Article' or Got Cracked Again and Restored From Outdated Backup Again
BetaNews seems to be in some serious trouble right now
Software Freedom is "Activism" Because the Corporate Agenda Revolves Around Bribery, Deceit, and Betrayal
At the end Software Freedom will win because it's on the same side as truth and lawfulness
The EPO, Europe's Largest Patent Office, Admits Outsourcing to Microsoft Slop
Their sole goal is to make more money
Links 16/06/2025: EchoLeak and NASA Teaming up With India
Links for the day
The Better the Understanding or the More Nations Understand the Threat Posed by Microsoft, the Faster It'll be Eradicated
We believe that the thing to advocate is self-hosting and Free software... A lack of simplicity or absence of alternatives is a form of vendor lock-in
A Week of Sunlight
They say transparency is like sunlight to a vampire
"Linux" Sites That Went Astray
there are even worse things than shutdowns
Links 16/06/2025: Climate, Wildfires, Breaches, and Monopolies
Links for the day
Links 16/06/2025: Summer in Finland and Misunderstandings
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 15, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 15, 2025