Summary: Why running GNU/Linux distributions on top of Azure is begging not only to be taxed by Microsoft but also to be under surveillance by Microsoft and the NSA/CIA

OEMs should not preload Windows on PCs because they turn these PCs into spying devices right out of the box (there are NSA back doors in Windows) and no government should ever touch anything from Microsoft anymore (mind this silly promotion), especially knowing how the NSA spies on ‘ally’ governments. Everything has changes since Snowden put out there evidence to show what many of us already knew for years. Here is a bunch of new Windows back doors for those who believe it’s old news (the NSA gets prior notifications about those holes before they are plugged).

“Everything has changes since Snowden put out there evidence to show what many of us already knew for years.”A few days ago we got confirmation of Microsoft not only engaging in Skype spying/eavesdropping (in real-time) but also allowing others to do so. It’s not a design flaw, it’s intentional. Dan Gilmore said, “How can any business even begin to trust Microsoft now?”

When Dr. Glyn Moody, another occasional author who writes for The Guardian found out about NSA book doors, he wrote the article “How Can Any Company Ever Trust Microsoft Again?” This article went viral and also got some translations. It makes similar points to the ones above. Anybody foolish enough to still trust Microsoft is simply deserving of the Darwin Award.

The news about Microsoft-NSA collusion received a lot of press coverage, including some in pro-FOSS sites, even in numerous different languages (I saw over a hundred headlines while researching the subject). This is really hurting Microsoft, which is struggling to spin what it just cannot denied. Not only was Microsoft shown to be colluding with the NSA (PRISM lists Microsoft as the first partner) but it also got caught lying to the public.

“Given what we know, surveillance just ought to be the expectation, not a theory or an hypothesis.”At this stage, anybody foolish enough to host anything on Microsoft Azure just simply deserves to be spied on. Given what we know, surveillance just ought to be the expectation, not a theory or an hypothesis. Canonical was stupid enough to end up aiding the criminals when it signed a deal with the devil (Azure). Then again, it’s not as though Canonical cherishs users’ privacy; it gives Amazon (hence the NSA) some data about users’ local searches — something which even Microsoft is not doing just yet (although other reports which Richard Stallman speaks of say that this has been going on for many years). Knowing that Microsoft uses faux ‘encryption’ with back doors, expect nothing to be secure. It’s just not designed to be secure, it’s designed to serve US “national security”, which basically means US interests — whatever they may be.

Given SUSE’s financial dependence on Microsoft, it is not surprising to see it being hosted on Microsoft servers with surveillance. Watch this new interview with a SUSE official. Notice how almost the entire interview is about Microsoft and it says:

MS and Linux at Loggerheads is History: Peter Lees, Suse

[...]

SUSE Linux is in a great position of being the only enterprise Linux recommended for Microsoft and VMware.

Microsoft would like tax GNU/Linux through SUSE, with or without Azure in the underlying platform.

Gilmore and Moody are currently being joined by John Dvorak, who explains “Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft” (after the NSA revelations). To quote:

If anyone should be mad at the NSA for all the snooping that appears to be going on, it should be the Department of Commerce, not privacy advocates. The recent revelations are not a threat to national security so much as a threat to the national economy. And if I were Microsoft, I’d be having around-the-clock meetings to discuss how to fix what is about to happen.

Microsoft, despite denials, appears to be in bed with the NSA. Apparently all encryption and other methods to keep documents and discussions private are bypassed and accessible by the NSA and whomever it is working with. This means a third party, for whatever reason, can easily access confidential business deals, love letters, government classified memos, merger paperwork, financial transactions, intra-corporate schemes, and everything in between.

Anybody who puts GNU/Linux on top of Azure should not only expect to pay patent tax to Microsoft but should also expect government surveillance on everything. We know that storage servers as a whole, not just routers, have back doors. Free software and GNU/Linux are the way to go, provided there is no proprietary bug in the stack. █

Summary: How SUSE continues to show loyalty to Microsoft, which has paid on multiple occasions for its agenda to be served

Novell helped OOXML and Hyper-V after Microsoft had bribed Novell’s management (hundreds of millions of dollars which mostly benefited people like Ron Hovsepian and Jeff Jaffe, who currently ruins the Web) and later scooped Novell’s patents, too (via CPTN).

“Then again, SUSE has been endorsing and advertising Microsoft for almost seven years, having purged from its Web site any material critical of Microsoft (this mass destruction began in 2006, very shortly after the patent deal with Microsoft).”As we noted last year and earlier this year, much of the force for UEFI restricted boot in Linux can be attributed to developers from Novell [1, 2] (some no longer work directly on SUSE or OpenSUSE) and now that Microosft Linux (SUSE) has a new Service Pack, it is prominently marketed as sucking Microsoft's dick, to paraphrase Linus Torvalds on such matters. To quote Michael Larabel, who is by no means hostile towards SUSE, the “Nuremberg-based company calls this the first enterprise Linux distribution integrating UEFI Secure Boot support.”

Ubuntu and Fedora have already made releases for this and suffered delays as well. To focus on restricted boot in this case is merely to endorse or even advertise what Microsoft is doing. Then again, SUSE has been endorsing and advertising Microsoft for almost seven years, having purged from its Web site any material critical of Microsoft (this mass destruction began in 2006, very shortly after the patent deal with Microsoft).

Here is another take on the news, among several from longtime Novell/SUSE apologists [1, 2] and a corresponding press release from the Microsoft-funded SUSE.

“That is a rhetorical question because SUSE is the de facto Microsoft Linux and everyone should avoid it.”Sam Varghese, the “Open Sauce” writer at IT Wire and a longtime Novell sceptic, warns that SUSE now helps make restricted boot compulsory on servers. He asks: “Does the Germany-based GNU/Linux company SUSE know something about Microsoft’s secure boot plans that other Linux companies do not?”

That is a rhetorical question because SUSE is the de facto Microsoft Linux and everyone should avoid it. SUSE uses euphemisms like “secure boot” and “service pack” (secure pack?) to market what is essentially a Microsoft-taxed GNU/Linux distribution which Microsoft profits from and technically controls,

Varghese correctly notes that “[g]iven Windows 8 desktop take-up by businesss that can only be described as a disaster, one would have thought that Microsoft would think twice about making lockout mechanisms such as secure boot compulsory for its server range.”

But those lockout mechanisms are controlled by Microsoft keys, so they are only effective at blocking Microsoft’s competition, not Microsoft products. UEFI deserves more antitrust complaints and SUSE continues to deserve a stern objection, or a boycott. █

Summary: ‘Former’ Microsoft staff is shaping opinions, controlling messages, and disseminating its own version of the data about FOSS

Microsoft has been indirectly funding the development of Mono for a number of years. Mono is about promoting .NET, not promoting FOSS (just targeting FOSS developers). Mono is a thing of the past as far as GNU/Linux desktops are concerned. Xamarin will try to spread it to Android, but so far there has been little progress on this. Developers who appreciate FOSS learned to antagonise this Microsoft technology.

Richard Hillesley explains in his new column that in the FOSS world people have ostracised this bit of Trojan horse/infiltration tactic. To quote the ending paragraph which cites Richard Stallman:

According to Stallman, the problem was “not in the C# implementations, but rather in Tomboy and other applications written in C#. If we lose the use of C#, we will lose them too. That doesn’t make them unethical, but it means that writing them and using them is taking a gratuitous risk.”

Juniper, in the mean time, having also become full of Microsoft people (we lost count of how many, but here are some examples [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), has no made Executive VP out of Microsoft’s Bob Muglia, who in turn can infiltrate Microsoft threats. It’s a familiar pattern of conduct. Just see other companies that got hijacked by Microsoft veterans.

In other news, notice how FOSS events which groom Black Duck actually have Microsoft as a top sponsor (these are partners which promote one another), based on the official Web site. It’s not a coincidence. The funding controls these events. They are controlling messages, controlling data, and basically doing what Microsoft wants them to do.

“Resistance to this ongoing assimilation attempt is vital for the survival of FOSS as a meaningful distinguisher.”OpenLogic, which is run by a Microsoft veteran, promotes Azure and openwashes it, giving us yet another example of Microsoft’s infiltrations in FOSS.

Over at the ‘Microsoft press’, the booster Kurt Mackie uses promotional language to characterise the Microsoft-sponsored SUSE and Microsoft proxy "Microsoft Open Technologies Inc."

These are only some of the many examples where Microsoft-affiliated folks try to distort the views of FOSS. Resistance to this ongoing assimilation attempt is vital for the survival of FOSS as a meaningful distinguisher. It’s not about intolerance, it’s about defending ourselves from what Microsoft knows too well to be a charm offence. It’s offensive. █

“There’s no company called Linux, there’s barely a Linux road map. Yet Linux sort of springs organically from the earth. And it had, you know, the characteristics of communism that people love so very, very much about it. That is, it’s free.”

–Steve Ballmer

Summary: The resemblance between Microsoft’s strategy against free Linux phones (Android) and against free GNU/Linux servers, two areas of FOSS domination

Microsoft is frantically trying to stop GNU/Linux by robbing it in the development sense. On the server side, the de facto operating system is not Windows and Microsoft would love to change that by striking deals with companies like BitNami. Here is the latest press release about it. Microsoft has been using a "man in the middle" style of attack against real FOSS (i.e. FOSS that is not tied to a proprietary stack) and the latest openwashing about it can be found here. It says: [hat tip: iophk]

Last week, Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc. quietly turned one year old. The birthday passed without fanfare, but next week, Microsoft plans to host a birthday party at its Silicon Valley campus.

More PR nonsense. It is not even news. All this thing should be considered to be is an attack on free systems like GNU/Linux and *BSD. Here we see, in another new press release, the Microsoft-sponsored SUSE. playing along. SUSE pays Microsoft for GNU/Linux and so does this new product from Amazon. Dell, which Microsoft is taking control of these days, favours Microsoft’s SUSE as well now.

Canonical, which has been aiding Microsoft as of late, does this too with Dell. To quote:

Dell’s (NASDAQ: DELL) not the only big-name channel partner with which Canonical, the company that develops Ubuntu Linux, has been forging closer ties lately. On Tuesday, as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced the general availability of Windows Azure Infrastructure Services, Canonical was also playing up Ubuntu’s seamless integration into the Azure cloud platform—a move that makes much more sense than it might at first seem.

All we are seeing here is Microsoft’s attempts to tax GNU/Linux servers, making them more expensive while offering the same applications under Windows. The same strategy is being used against Android. This is not some far-fetched theory. Microsoft has been very clear about that. █

“I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows.”

–Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

Summary: Patent tax on Linux is still far from dead, due to proxies of Microsoft

Several months ago (almost half a year) I started just simply ignoring all SUSE and OpenSUSE news, including stories of Microsoft patent tax coming through SLE*, but this one I could not just ignore because it’s posted in the OpenSUSE site and it says:

If thats the way of support we may experience in the future, I am forced to stop actively promoting the project.

Some sites which promoted the project for years sometimes still do so, but I could name a few which no longer cover it, or very rarely do. SUSE is now funded by Microsoft and the 'old Novell' still tries to get money from Microsoft for its abuses in the 90s. Here is the latest:

Novell has filed its opening appeals brief [PDF] in the Novell v. Microsoft antitrust litigation regarding WordPerfect.

Another company that turned from a controversial Linux contributor (NTFS driver) into a Microsoft taxman is Tuxera, which now offers several patent tax options for several platforms including Android. From its latest press release:

Tuxera comprehensive file systems portfolio for storage solutions and other embedded devices include Tuxera NTFS, Tuxera exFAT, Tuxera HFS+, and Tuxera FAT.

Those are Microsoft patent Trojan horses. Just like SUSE in its different ‘flavours’, these should all be avoided. For those who think that Apple file systems (HFS+) are benign, remember Apple’s patent aggression against Linux and consider this latest action which involves software patents:

In ongoing legal proceedings in California, Apple has added six new devices to its patent infringement claims against rival Samsung, getting them in late Friday evening ahead of a deadline on changes to the scope of the complaint. The new additions essentially cover just about every piece of Samsung hardware now available in the U.S. market, with modifications that also account for recent software updates.

We should reject every technology which is associated with Apple. This branding company clearly still wants war. Groklaw, which covered the above case better than anyone, has just received a sort of award and finished putting all the trial transcripts from Oracle vs. Google online:

I’m happy to tell you that we now have all the remaining trial transcripts from the Oracle v. Google trial, and you can find them all in the Oracle v. Google Timeline by date.

These attempts to tax Linux/Android using patents have been largely facilitated by the USPTO, but they are not successful yet, with the exception of Microsoft’s FAT patents. █

Summary: Arguments against the GPLv3 turn out to have come from companies which all along were nothing but trouble

T

HE third version of the GPL is largely accepted, widely adopted, and those who are affected by it are mostly out of business, e.g. Novell. Novell and SUSE opposed the GPLv3. “Linus is changing distros,” told us iophk, quoting Linus Torvalds as saying:” I gave OpenSUSE a try, because it worked so well at install-time on the Macbook Air, but I have to say, I’ve had enough. There is no way in hell I can honestly suggest that to anybody else any more.”

“That’s good news,” says iophk. But another company which the GPLv3 affects is TiVo, which not only pioneered the malpractice now known as “TiVoization” but also became a patent aggressor with growing appetite (it wants of billions of dollars from software patents). TiVo is a very bad company, no matter if it leverages Linux. See our TiVo wiki page for details. Might all Americans with cable television be forced to pay “TiVo tax” for some software patents?

The GPLv3 sought to address two problems which TiVo makes real. The obvious one is “TiVoization”; The other one is software patents. Sadly, a Microsoft marketing executive created a company which routinely bashes the GPL. It is called Black Duck and days ago we found yet more statistics that contradict its dubious, proprietary output (saturated with Microsoft input after a Microsoft deal). We put that in our daily links.

In other news, trolls suffer a loss against Nintendo in the US:

Today sees Nintendo of America prevailing in a patent infringement lawsuit. At the center of the case was the Wii remote, Wii Balance Board, and Wii Fit software. Impulse technology claimed that these three devices or software infringed upon their patent (U.S. Patent No 5,524,637) which was issued in 1996.

Note that this is an American lawsuit. Nintendo is not an American company, but this is where the patent system breeds trolls. We need the GPLv3 to prevent this, but first the licence must become widespread. It’s clear why Microsoft spreads a lot of FUD about it, usually through proxies. █

Summary: How Microsoft staff and money help change the message of its opposition

THE LINUX FOUNDATION continues to promote ‘Microsoft Linux’ in a variety of ways. This is one of two examples from this week — an example where an offering from SUSE gets lip service from a SUSE-funded (which is in turn Microsoft-funded) organisation. Another company with Microsoft ties gets its say on FOSS after issuing a press release that can be found here. Over the years we have shown examples (here is a recent example [1, 2]) where Microsoft connections and funding helped change the policy and message of FOSS, so this subject is important. It aids the propaganda machine whenever the opposing side gets infiltrated. █

“I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows.”

–Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

Summary: New PR from SUSE seems dubious

SUSE, the Microsoft-funded and Microsoft-funding company that taxes GNU/Linux, has got some awkward new press release claiming leadership in Fog Computing. Someone from the Attachmate Group, promoting Microsoft tax through SUSE, accompanies the PR with this article:

But think of it this way: If you’re running a proprietary stack, you’re limited to the service providers that run on that single brand of infrastructure. If you need to mix and match, will your proprietary vendor be open to having the solution integrate with everything else? If you don’t have full support, then you’re opening up risks when the pieces don’t work together.

SUSE is sort of proprietary. It is hard to get SLE* source code, as we demonstrated several years ago. And also, it’s not free of charge. One must pay Microsoft. Here is an example of a writer who aided SUSE’s PR:

While much is written about the convergence of open source and cloud computing these days, including coverage of the trend here on OStatic, the usual players–OpenStack, CloudStack, Eucalyptus Systems, Red Hat–tend to dominate the headlines.

OpenSUSE blog posts have become quite rare, but here is one from hackweek:

The provisioning of a system is nothing new in SUSE Manager, so you might already be familiar with it. I stripped it down a bit, so the only option is to select the autoinstallation and to Create Cobbler System Record.

There are other improvements, but we no longer keep track of this project that openwashes SLE*. SUSE is gradually dying, but it is shameless with its PR. To claim leadership is to basically spin or lie. █

Summary: Red Hat plants a flag in Germany when SUSE loses momentum and status

SUSE, the only Microsoft-approved brand of GNU/Linux (because Microsoft is paid for its use), has been bragging about German deployments, as we noted quite recently (SUSE/Microsoft tax polluting HPC). In Germany, however, large companies still use Red Hat too. Red Hat sought to make it clear with a press release:

German manufacturing firm updates IT systems with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

Red Hat Inc., provider of open source solutions, has announced that Ferrotec, a vendor of technologies based on the magnetic liquid Ferrofluid used in multi-phase motors, dampers for shaft ends and transformer cooling, has deployed Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization at the core of its infrastructure. Through this Red Hat technology combination, Ferrotec is increasing scalability, flexibility and performance while lowering operating costs.

Headquartered in Japan, the Ferrotec Group also has a large presence throughout Europe. In line with the company’s growth and additional business requirements, its IT infrastructure expanded with the purchase of new servers and an increase in memory capacity. As the company’s IT systems peaked, performance began to decrease, creating the need for a modern technology infrastructure to meet Ferrotec’s business demands.

For many in Germany, SUSE is sometimes perceived as supporting the Germans; in reality, SUSE is supporting Microsoft. It is time to shun SUSE even in Germany. OpenSUSE has lost its edge anyway, and to make matters worse, it became an extension of Microsoft. █

“Asked how small software companies could compete on products that Microsoft wants to fold into Windows, [Microsoft COO Bob] Herbold told Bloomberg News they could either fight a losing battle, sell out to Microsoft or a larger company or ‘not go into business to begin with.’”

–Newsweek, March 1998

Summary: The company which hardly pays any tax is busy trying to tax GNU/Linux, Android, and all hardware in the OEM channel

THE OTHER day somebody told us that Wine had been put in bed with Mono — a move which can raise all sorts of flags. Following the "sabotage" of Android as a Java-like or Java-oriented platform we are seeing development — not runtime — being tilted in Microsoft’s favour (with Microsoft patents as opposed to Oracle’s). Phoronix noticed the Wine move as well as the Android move from Xamarin. It also made apparent that Ubuntu developers started talking about Mono after they had dumped Mono from the default installation:

Ubuntu developers are currently exploring the possibility of using Mono AOT to reduce start-up time, allow for better memory sharing, and for greater performance optimizations.

It is worth noting, however, that this need not affect the installed-by-default software, so the risk of patent tax on Ubuntu is not quite there. The cause for alarm comes from elsewhere. Compare that to Dell's odd situation (deal with Microsoft/Novell and odd “Ubuntu tax” [1, 2]). Also reconsider Wyse’s relationship with SUSE [1, 2, 3] and notice the fact that Dell recently bought Wyse (and some patents too along with the bundle). What this can lead to is Dell paying more money to Microsoft for the use of GNU/Linux. In Indonesia, Ballnux entered education, meaning that there too the problem exists:

This program was initiated by the Government of Indonesia with the objective to introduce the open source and e-learning method to student and teacher. So three years ago I was contacted to help them to realize their dream, and here I’m now reporting that there are around 7300 openSUSE installation in 350 elementary and junior-high schools. We also use SLES in servers to provide repositories and e-learning materials in SCORM using Moodle. This is work in progress. We educate teachers to use openSUSE and also creating learning material so it is always in beta stage I think

We recently explained why this helps SUSE, which pays Microsoft for GNU/Linux. Some distributors of Android do the same thing, which is why Motorola tablets are the only ones I consider buying right now. It’s part of the need to reward those who stand up for what’s right. It’s worth noting that some people care about what’s just, not what’s “legal” (e.g. software patents in the US), whereas others care about what’s in law and not about what’s just, ethical, and reasonable. In later posts today I shall deal with the Motorola case in isolation and say more about the changes of laws by corporations, not people (democracy derailed).

As Adrian Kingsley-Hughes shows, Microsoft is also trying to tax OEMs right now:

So, the OEMs make money from installing crapware onto PCs, and now Microsoft is making money removing it. Makes you realize why more and more people are buying Apple hardware.

Microsoft cannot really sell physical products (it tried Zune, phones, etc, but failed), so it focuses on trying to tax everything. People need to take a stance and actively work to save IT from Microsoft. Scapegoat is not what Microsoft is, scapegoat is the Free software community which gets damonised for merely standing up for justice, just like Wikileaks and others. █

Summary: A short wave of calls to refrain from OpenSUSE promotion, which through the upstream is helping Microsoft, the sponsor

THE spreading of Microsoft file systems by Tuxera (‘little Novell’) has helped Microsoft tax Linux while Novell’s SUSE has the same effect on products or companies which foolishly go for this unnecessary option.

Muktware gives some lip service to OpenSUSE by speaking to the Project Manager of the Open Build Service (see this page), but the false supposition that helping OpenSUSE is not helping SUSE was recently shattered quite explicitly by Mr. Jaeger, whose words are interpreted as follows:

In a blog post today Jaeger explained some of the process of development at a commercial/community entity. He said that changes either come from the community edition and pushed upstream or done by the SLED team and pushed downstream. He also thinks it’s good practice to push all changes upstream and let them decide to use it or request changes.

In other words, praises like this one for OpenSUSE indirectly help the Microsoft-taxed distribution of GNU/Linux. People who say that helping OpenSUSE is not the same as helping SUSE (indirectly controlled by Microsoft) are simply not paying attention. █

Summary: SUSE makes it clearer that people on the payroll drive the OpenSUSE project

THE DOWNLOADS of OpenSUSE got halted and barely anyone noticed or cared. SUSE is now relying on paid advocates, or as one paid booster put it, “SUSE is hiring people for the Boosters team” (akin to AstroTurf).

Andreas Jaeger, one of the paid members, writes about changes that the community is not a part of (it does not vote on anything significant at SUSE) and says:

Why do we use the word “freight train” here? The openSUSE community consists of many different people – and some of them are able to work full-time on openSUSE, perhaps as part of a team of others. Those people might have a faster drive than others – and might “roll them over”. We’d like to avoid these situations and whenever they happen to help fixing.

In other words, SUSE recognises that paid employees of SUSE (with wages that partly come from Microsoft) call the shots. So much for a “community”…

It’s just a tool for creating Microsoft Linux. █

Summary: The focus Techrights is expected to have on Novell and SUSE issues will decrease, giving rise to patent matters

NOVELL is no longer a company, so we officially let it go about 2 months ago. We stopped researching the subject, at least for the most part (news tracking). But what about SUSE, which Microsoft is subsidising? It has been over a month since we last researched it deeply/properly and issues like patents are the burning issues which take precedence, also at the expense of Gates Foundation watching.

“As Microsoft is no longer the only company that which attacks Linux, e.g. with software patents, we also had to let it slide a bit.”Frankly, there is not much to track when it comes to SUSE anyway. Just like Novell, it is becoming just a remnant of history and blog posts from the OpenSUSE Web site are hardly about news. They now blog about software which they package, e.g. “openSUSE 12.1 was one of the first major Linux distributions to include the new programming language Go.”

If anyone is interested in tracking Novell and SUSE, please get in touch. Otherwise, due to lack of time for the most part, we’ll neglect those seminal issues (which were the central point of this site back in 2006). It is hard to let go sometimes, but it is essential for our improved focus. As Microsoft is no longer the only company that which attacks Linux, e.g. with software patents, we also had to let it slide a bit. █

Summary: A look at some SUSE coverage from this week

THE OPENSUSE project marks another milestone with something that looks rather crude and unexciting (although it may be a matter of personal taste). The official word and fans/enthusiasts cover the project’s news despite the problems it may bring and Sam Varghese goes batting with the latest PR talking points, perhaps in exchange for something (exclusive interview). He writes:

Moving back to Europe appears to have made a difference. Nils Brauckmann, president and general manager, SUSE, said: “We have a lot to celebrate in 2012. SUSE is a recognised market leader that is well positioned to take advantage of growing demand for commercial Linux and open source technologies.

No, all it does is add a Microsoft tax. The same numbers that we criticised before are quoted again, perhaps in exchange for this interview with Mantal. It says: “Last year, SUSE, since 2004 a part of Novell, was moved back to Nuremberg as a separate unit after Attachmate Corporation bought Novell and took the company private.

“One of the original SUSE hackers, Mantel, rejoined the company a few years back and now has a chance to help the company re-cultivate some of that original culture which made it so well-known.”

Well, if helping Microsoft tax GNU/Linux is what made SUSE “well-known”, then perhaps Mantel is at the right place. In order to avert the threat of Microsoft extortion we must continue to boycott SUSE. █

Summary: Remarks on particular reports that deceive the public this week

POOR journalism helps show why alternative news sites are truly needed. Right now, for example, a Microsoft MVP is spreading pro-Microsoft messages in IDG, without any disclosures of course. We saw this sort of stuff before, in other news networks.

Over at ZDNet, rather scary headlines are appearing which are hinged upon a Samba flaw alone (like the many flaws that appear in Windows all the time). When one configures Microsoft Linux to serve Microsoft protocols, then it’s debatable if that too should count as Microsoft’s fault. The bottom line is, reporting on those subjects is flawed, sometimes by design (as in the case where Microsoft folks are assigned to report on Microsoft).

Since we’ve mentioned SUSE, watch how the post-acquisition VAR Guy is advertising SUSE:

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) recently became the world’s first $1 billion open source company. Now, the folks at SUSE, promoter of the rival Linux distribution, are seeking bragging rights of their own. Indeed, SUSE says it now has more than 9,200 certified third-party applications and supports over 13,500 hardware, storage and networking devices. Impressive. But is SUSE in growth mode?

The VAR Guy’s educated hunch: Absolutely yes. Attachmate acquired Novell and its SUSE business roughly a year ago. Over the past year, SUSE has been freed from Novell branding, and SUSE is once again run from its own European headquarters.
Customer Base

And then he proceeds to parroting Novell PR talking points which we debunked years ago. They make up some numbers by aggregating useless metrics and then make themselves look big. If one wants just a rewritten press release, then the above meets the standards. But will someone please verify those bogus numbers before reporting? PR is the art of making things look different from what they actually are. █

Summary: A look at some SUSE news, of which there is very little

THE world of SUSE has been quiet. Hardly anything is being written about it, not even many HOWTOs. SUSE has this new press release which hardly got any press coverage, with few exceptions:

SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service includes a centralized directory-based administration server and point of service (POS) branch servers, as well as tools and templates to easily create, roll out and maintain operating system images for a wide variety of POS devices.

Security enhancements include full disk encryption on terminals for both data and root partitions, making it easier for administrators to build PCI DSS compliant systems.

This is mostly covered like a press release, always repeating itself:

New release will create, launch and maintain operating system images for a wide variety of POS devices

SUSE is just using a lot of Red Hat’s work in this case. It rallies a small number of developers who repackage things and openwashes itself by setting up activities.

Speaking of Red Hat, the company’s results are impressive and we hope to hear from the company’s CEO soon (they invited us to ask him questions). Curiously enough, another patent lawsuit has just been filed against the company and Groklaw has the details:

A company called Business Process Modeling Solutions LLC, doing business as DE-BPMS LLC, filed suit against Red Hat (and a separate suit against IBM) asserting infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,873,094 (Text of Patent). (Complaint [PDF; Text])

This yet again emphasises the need to address the subject of patents. As Groklaw‘s Webbink puts it, it “strikes me as just the type of claim that will have trouble under the Bilski standard, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to see what can be found in terms of prior art. This patent was filed July 3, 1997, but it claims priority back to a filing made April 11, 1995, so prior art must pre-date this earlier priority date.” █

Summary: Microsoft agents and staff paid indirectly by Microsoft are doing to Linux whatever Microsoft wants

RYAN from our IRC channels showed us that amid Microsoft's conditional payments to SUSE (buying/bribing) KY Srinivasan moves from Novell to Microsoft, based on his current E-mail address. Also involved in his work for Microsoft (integrating proprietary Microsoft software with Linux) are other Novell employees or former SUSE/Novell employees, such as James Bottomley, Greg K-H, and Olaf Hering (current staff).

The second milestone of OpenSUSE 12.2 is here, but based on coverage about it there is nothing great about it and it looks rather dreary. Those who don’t wish to help Microsoft should steer away from SUSE. Whatever makes SUSE stronger makes Microsoft stronger, too. █

Summary: Criticism of SUSE and a timely new example of Microsoft’s intimidation tactics

THE OpenSUSE project (not community) has a new milestone and coverage comes from SUSE-friendly sites for the most part.

The problem we have with OpenSUSE is that, being part of SUSE, it is controlled in part by Microsoft interests. It increases the risk of Microsoft lawsuits and extortion, which helps not at all. See this discussion in Slashdot about one who has to run a business under constant threat of Microsoft litigation:

We recently told you about a virtual desktop service for iPads and other devices that seems to exist only because it breaks Microsoft’s Windows licensing rules in order to provide an unbeatable price: free, with the option to upgrade to a more robust service for just $5 a month.

The company is being threatened by Microsoft, which gives Microsoft a sense of control and the rest of us a sense of fear. This is what SUSE has done to GNU/Linux too when Novell signed its deal with Microsoft in 2006. Why support SUSE anymore? People oughtn’t. █

Summary: Another good example of paid-for Apple ‘fans’

THE CULT of Apple is not as organic as one might be led to believe. In the past we covered examples of Apple AstroTurfing and this new example shows us paid queue standers — people who are paid to hype up products:

Airtasker paying man to queue to buy the very first new iPad

STEPHEN Parkes is first in line for a new iPad at the Apple store in Sydney but it’s not because he actually wants one.

Instead jobs site Airtasker is keen to cash in on Apple’s cachet has paid the former truck driver $950 to wait there until Friday’s launch wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with its logo.

Airtasker.com is an online marketplace where people can bid for the right to earn cash for running day errands and completing everyday chores.

This is ridiculous. Sometimes celebrities are used like this too — a form of deceitful endorsement. Apple also gives the illusion/delusion of its products being the most wanted by providing ‘i’ Prizes in all sorts of competitions and raffles. It’s effective PR.

Now, consider the fact that Novell keeps losing its free (voluntary) fans despite pretending to be “open” and soon enough it’s realised that a lot of this is plain marketing for Microsoft-taxed GNU/Linux like this SP2, which oddly enough was picked for review:

SLES 11 SP2 adds a new kernel, support for Btrfs and LXC, and Snapper to manage snapshots and rollbacks. Koen Vervloesem explains all…

Was the author contacted by Novell/SUSE to write this review? We saw Novell doing this before and even offering gifts for it. This is a subject for another day. █

Summary: Torvalds gets fed up with SUSE

OPENSUSE lost many of its key developers and leaders, including Greg, who works closely with Linus Torvalds. Not so long ago Greg et al. got Tumbleweed rolling, after they had founded OpenSUSE. “Tumbleweed was announced with or shortly after their 11.4 release. I was a bit skeptical at the time, because of my experience with other rolling distributions,” writes J.A. Watson.

The important news though is that according to Brian Proffitt and others, “Torvalds throws openSUSE security tantrum” (more strong language from him):

Linux creator Linus Torvalds has issued a rare public spanking for openSUSE after falling foul of its security procedures.

Torvalds has posted a rant on Google+ about his experience installing openSUSE on a MacBook Air. The installation requires the root password for many functions and he went to the Bugzilla thread to argue that this was a stupid policy, which got changes in some areas of the code, like adding wireless networks.

But the straw that broke the penguin’s back was when his daughter Daniela called him from school to complain that she couldn’t add a printer to her computer without the root password. Linus lost it, and went public with his complaints.

“He has a point,” writes Pogson. “There are systems where these settings are crucial for security but a kid’s notebook at school is proabably not one of them. In a business you may well not want 1000 nude photos to be printed in the boss’ office ( I have seen that. A student caught the principal’s password…) but in a school with the local system admin protecting what he wants to protect, not so much.”

“I think Linus has not tried Debian yet, so may be its time for Linus to give Debian a try,” writes Muktware. Debian GNU/Linux is indeed very good. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols , a fan of SUSE, responds to Torvalds and Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids characteristically use sensationalist headlines, just like those who covered the SP2 of SLE* 11 as though it was revolutionary because of the 3.0 Linux. Here is a toned-down article about it.

The bottom line is, SUSE and Torvalds are no friends. █