Summary: Russia continues to improve Mandriva, which used to be the most widely used GNU/Linux distribution for desktops (in the Mandrake days)

WITH Russia receiving Olympic limelight, it has become somewhat fashionable to publish Russophobic pieces in the Western media, focusing only on the negatives to distract from one's own shortcomings in the debt-saddled West (Russia has almost no debt and it has vast natural reserves). This is not a political post but an attempt to explain the state of Mandriva, which some years ago passed from French and Brazilian hands into Russian hands. Remember that Linux was created in Finland, a country highly influenced (and to some degree controlled) by the Russians — those whom Nils Torvalds worked with politically. Given what we now know about the NSA and GCHQ, it would only make sense for Russia to move to GNU/Linux everywhere as soon as possible. Given what Microsoft has done in Russia and has done with the NSA (espionage), only a “useful idiot” (to use Soviet terminology) would still put Windows on government or army computers in Russia.

Following the migration of Mandriva to Russia (finding financial asylum, so to speak) a new distribution called Rosa Linux came to us from Russia [1] with no language barriers, emerging out of nowhere and stealing some of the attention ALTLinux once enjoyed. There is a Russian (but English-speaking) blog that continues to cover Mandriva and its derivatives quite often (even days ago [2]) and Mandriva, which is now based and managed in Russia, makes new software releases [3]. A French derivative of Mandriva, called Mageia (employing several former Mandriva developers), is helping the good name of Mandriva (Mageia 4 was thoroughly reviewed some days ago [4]), not to mention the US semi-equivalent known as PCLinuxOS.

My experiences with Mandriva (main desktop operating system) have been mostly positive and it is important to assure the continued expansion of this GNU/Linux distribution, no matter who manages it. OpenMandriva gives it some independence from the Russia, and its community was led by a Frenchman until not too long ago. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. The legacy of Mandrake Linux: Rosa Linux

   At the end of 90`s Mandrake Linux was the most popular distribution out there. Most thing that are today said about Ubuntu where first said about Mandrake. It was the number one distro from 1998 util 2004. User friendly, easy to use, easy to install, lot of preinstalled software, most popular by new users and Mandrake made at that point most users to change on Linux. All that is today said about Ubuntu. Yeah, Mandrake had also free shipping for DVDs back then. But soon the empire started to fall apart. In 2004 Mandrake had died. In 2005 Conectiva, the company who bought Mandrakesoft announced and released Mandriva and in 2006 they fired Gael Duval. Duval was the author of Mandrake. The new distribution, Mandriva, was nothing like good old Mandrake and it made lot of users to change their system. Fast forward to 2014 and let us have a look on the legacy of Mandrake Linux. Last stable release of Mandriva was in 2011 and it was not really stable. But in last 10 years Mandriva inspired many users and developers and new distributions popped out. One of them is Rosa Linux. Rosa Linux is a Russian Linux distribution.

2. To upgrade or not to upgrade?

3. Mandriva releases new version of systems management software

   The French GNU/Linux company Mandriva has released a new version of Pulse, its IT systems management software.

4. Mageia 4 review – Cinnamon, GNOME 3, KDE and MATE desktops

   The project makes separate installation ISO images for the GNOME 3 and KDE desktop environments available for download. Support for other desktop environments – Cinnamon, Enlightenment (E17), LXDE, MATE, RazorQt and Xfce – are provided via the DVD installation and Network Install CD images

As we had noted a week or so in advance, Mageia 4 was released in time for FOSDEM [1] and it received some press coverage [2]. There are galleries of screenshots online [3,4] and also some reviews [5,6]. These are generally very positive and they serve to show that the team did good work.

Other than that, PCLinuxOS received a recommendation [7]. It is said to be better for Windows XP users and judging by my father’s experience it is probably true. Windows XP users easily and quickly get accustomed to PCLinuxOS. The similarity in structure and appearance sure helps.

Speaking of another Mandriva derivative, ROSA is being reviewed again [8,9] and it’s looking good. Mandriva is now based in Russia and ROSA is a Russian distribution, whereas Mageia is mostly French and PCLinuxOS is developed in the US.

Don’t dismiss the Mandriva camp. It may not have a strong brand like Ubuntu’s or a development community as vast as Debian’s, but it sure is doing well. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. New year, new resolutions and a new Mageia – here’s Mageia 4!

   Right on time, and just in time for the first day of FOSDEM 2014, we have the great pleasure of announcing Mageia 4. We’re still having a grand time doing this together, and we hope you enjoy this release as much as we’ve enjoyed making it. And if you’re at FOSDEM, come and help us celebrate!

2. Mageia 4 Linux Desktop Distro Delivers Improved Performance, Features

3. Mageia 4 GNOME Quick Screenshot Tour

   Default desktop of Mageia 4 GNOME has some flowery ornaments on the deep-blue background. As usual in GNOME, there is no dedicated menu, but there is an all-screen search tool. You may notice that there is no network indicator on the panel.

4. Mageia 4

5. Mageia 4.0, hands-on: Another excellent release

   A few years ago (September 2010 to be exact), when things got really crazy with the Mandriva distribution, some of the core developers and users announced that they were establishing a fork to continue the development and distribution with the new name Mageia. That has proven to be a very good decision, because they have just made their fourth major release.

6. Mageia 4 Cinnamon, KDE and GNOME 3 screen shots

   Aside from the KDE and GNOME 3 desktop environments, Mageia 4 also features support for Cinnamon and MATE. This article presents screen shots from test installations of the Cinnamon, GNOME 3 and KDE desktops.

7. 5 Reasons Why PCLinuxOS Is Better For Windows XP Users Than Ubuntu

   This is not an attempt to disparage Ubuntu as it is a very good operating system and I would recommend it to most people. It is definitely a better step forward for Windows 7 users than Windows 8 would be.

8. ROSA Desktop Fresh R2 GNOME review

   ROSA Desktop is one of several distributions that are derived from Mandriva Linux. The others are Mageia and OpenMandriva. The latter has more in common with ROSA Desktop than Mageia does; many applications developed by ROSA labs are available in the OpenMandriva repositories, but not in the Mageia repositories.

9. A look at ROSA Fresh R2 LXDE Edition

   However, in recent times the Russian company has introduced a new desktop lineup called ROSA “Fresh”. This desktop version is intended to be, as the name suggests, fresher in terms of software versions and therefore features etc whilst aiming to maintain stability and a good solid user experience and more than just KDE and Gnome versions have been made available.

Summary: Mandriva and its derivatives/relatives continue to produce good desktop distributions which are RPM-based

THE FAMILY of distributions derived from Mandrake (originally the ‘Red Hat camp’) are still contenders on the desktop, challenging the ‘Debian camp’ championed by Ubuntu and its derivatives (and other Debian derivatives like SteamOS). According to Mageia people who spoke to us last night, Mageia 4 is scheduled to be released in FOSDEM next week. There is already a release candidate [1,2] and a preview [3]. Mandriva, despite losing Charles-H. Schulz [4,5], is said to have just found an expansion route [6] and PCLinuxOS (a popular Mandriva/Mandrake derivative) is receiving good reviews [7] and releasing new magazines [8].

As we stated a few months ago, don’t discount the RPM/Red Hat camp just yet. It has plenty of potential and there are many eager, highly-motivated developers supporting it. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Mageia 4 Release Candidate Images Surface

   The release candidate spin of the upcoming Mageia 4 Linux distribution from the Mandriva/Mandrake lineage is now available for testing.

2. Mageia 4 RC Is Out, Mandriva Spirit Is Still Alive

   Mageia, a GNU/Linux-based free operating system that started its life as a fork of Mandriva Linux and that is supported by a nonprofit organization of elected contributors, is now at version 4 RC.

3. Kali and Quirky Reviews, Steam for Debs, and a Mageia Look

   Today’s stroll around the Linuxhood proved quite interesting as usual. First up are reviews of two distributions that get few reviews, so those are quite welcome. Debian developers get a free subscription to Steam if they want. And someone nicked Zoltan gives a nice overview of Mageia and its place in the Linux distro landscape. Today’s bonus is Matt Asay’s assertion that the Linux desktop doesn’t matter anymore.

4. Schulz Leaves Mandriva, Wishes OM Well

   Mandriva S.A. snagged the expertise of Charles-H. Schulz in May 2012 to help organize and basically sweep up after the restructuring of early 2012. Schulz, whose first job was with MandrakeSoft, left Mandriva S.A at the beginning of the year and wishes “success and good luck” to OpenMandriva.

5. Good Bye Mandriva

   The beginnings of the OpenMandriva project were rough. The very rationale for the existence of OpenMandriva were not overly clear to many people. After all, the Mageia project was already booming and the justification for such a project that was aiming at building upon the Mandriva Linux legacy was weak. On top of this, the team behind the project was small, and the mission was overwhelming: to continue, as a community, the development of the linux distribution formerly known as Mandriva Linux. I will not really go into details as to how the project evolved, but I am proud to have contributed in a significant way to build the home for this project, namely an independent French NGO (the OpenMandriva Association) and to have helped the community with establishing its governance and some of its sound principles and processes. But the question remains: why does the OpenMandriva Project matter? Why should we care?

6. Mandriva, The Distro-Zombie That Refused To Die

   Instead of being just a supplier of GNU/Linux, Mandriva has added plenty of software and services all its own aimed at businesses. They must even have salesmen… In their enthusiasm they wrote, “In 2006, hundred of millions of personal computers pre-installed with Linux were shipped, particularly to South America, East Europe, Russia, North Africa and India. Mandriva also participates in thematic projects with Intel, such as the Classmate PC.” With optimism/ambition like that they could go far. We await the next chapter…

7. PCLinuxOS 2013 KDE Desktop Review

   This quarterly release from PCLinuxOS delivers the latest from KDE, LXDE, and MATE. Or you can try the famous PCLinuxOS Full Monty ISO which includes most/or all of the desktops listed above. I am slightly behind on my KDE updates so I will be reviewing PCLinuxOS 2013.12 KDE. For those that are wondering, this distribution is available in 32 or 64 bit architecture.

8. The January 2014 Issue of the PCLinuxOS Magazine

   Download the PDF (10.7 MB) http://pclosmag.com/download.php?f=2014-01.pdf

   Download the EPUB Version (9.7 MB) http://pclosmag.com/download.php?f=201401epub.epub

   Download the MOBI Version (10.0 MB) http://pclosmag.com/download.php?f=201401mobi.mobi

   Visit the HTML Version http://pclosmag.com/html/enter2014.html

NOW, as in previous years, a new release of Mageia is imminent [1,2], promising to beat Mandriva to it [3] but not PCLinuxOS, which has just released its December edition (2013.12) [4]. Mandriva is now based in Russia and just like Red Hat (historically a relative of Mandriva) it might be benefiting from the NSA scandals. Well, governments cannot tolerate espionage and in Free/libre systems like Mandriva (with derivatives) not even KGB agents like Putin can successfully hide back doors.

For those who think that Mandrake/Mandriva are gone and are merely part of history it should be important to recognise forks and derivatives, including OpenMandriva. One day it might be a Mandriva derivative — not a RHEL or Debian derivative — that becomes the most widely used GNU/Linux distribution (or operating system). ChromeOS and SteamOS, for instance, are based on rather different systems of GNU/Linux. There’s no one-horse race. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Mageia 4 Getting Closer with New Beta

2. Mageia 4 Beta 2

3. Mandriva moving closer to release

   Nearly 18 months after the company was re-organised, Mandriva, the French GNU/Linux company is making progress towards a release, according to Charles-H. Schulz, its marketing and open source relations manager.

4. PCLinuxOS 2013.12 KDE, MATE and LXDE released

Summary: The “OpenMandriva” branch of Mandrake/Mandriva shows continuity in what used to be the leading GNU/Linux distribution for desktops/laptops

REMNANTS of Mandrake include PCLinuxOS, which is a wonderful distribution [1], but from Mandriva too comes a new release, known as OpenMandriva Lx 2013.0 [2,3]. The staff which left Mandriva is saying goodbye to Mageia 2 [4] and those who support Mandriva-based distros continue to shuffle [5], showing us that Mandriva is able to thrive in branches and forks. Having more choices is essential for a project’s survival and expansion. Mandrake/Mandriva was once the most widely used desktop distribution. It can still make a huge comeback. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. PCLinuxOS Makes Desktop Linux Look Good

   If you prefer the do-it-your way experience, opt for the KDE MiniMe version. You will get a basic KDE desktop to configure your way. This version is intended for advanced users who know how to fine-tune their system. It is a much smaller ISO file that lacks printer drivers. You add what drivers you need as well as whatever other elements you want beyond the bare-bones KDE installation. – See more at: http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/PCLinuxOS-Makes-Desktop-Linux-Look-Good-79418.html#sthash.VNYARlCM.dpuf

2. OpenMandriva Lx 2013.0 Released

3. [OpenMandriva] 2013.0 Final Release

   The OpenMandriva Lx teams are pleased to announce the availability of the 2013.0 final release!

4. Goodbye Mageia 2

5. Pentaboot Laptop Changes

   2. PCLinuxOS has been updated and it now fixed the SCIM IME. That is simply great! PCLinuxOS 32 bits is my gaming OS as it gets to play my DESURA and STEAM games perfectly.

   3. Mageia 3 remains the same with some updates. This is my academic distro and my family OS (it was user accounts for my family)

WINDOWS and Surface are two old brands (the latter is being reused), but they cannot on their own guarantee the survival of a monopoly. Vista 8 is missing the boat and the Windows franchise gradually dies. Microsoft is unable to become a hardware company and now come the lawsuits we expected, starting with Sokolowski:

Andrew Sokolowski, a lawyer in Los Angeles, claims that he bought a Surface with 32 gigabytes of storage last week. But he quickly ran out of space after loading it with music and Microsoft Word documents. He discovered that a significant portion of the 32 GB storage space was being used by the operating system and pre-installed apps such as Word and Excel. Only 16 GB was available for him to use.

Here is commentary from a pro-Linux site:

Microsoft’s Surface tablet allocates almost 50% of the storage for itself thus leaving a user with 16GB on a 32GB tablet. Microsoft said in a statement. “Customers understand the operating system and pre-installed applications reside on the device’s internal storage thereby reducing the total free space.”

That sounds like an extremely poor operating system which has such a huge overhead.

My 16GB Google Nexus 7 tablet offers me more than 13GB of storage allocating less than 2.8 GB for the system, same is the case with other Android devices. The way Microsoft’s mobile OS reserves lion’s share of storage to itself is outrageous and shows how inferior the OS is when compared with Android.

Android can be much smaller. The problem is, Microsoft tried shoehorning a desktop OS into a mobile device.

sinofsky is said to have been thrown out for this strategic blunder and Semiaccurate says that Microsoft has failed:

Microsoft is in deep trouble, their two main product lines are failing, and the blame game is intensifying. Steve Sinofsky gets the blame this time for the failure of Windows 8, but the real problem is the patterns that are so clearly illustrated by these actions.
Microsoft is largely irrelevant to computing of late, the only markets they still play in are evaporating with stunning rapidity. Their long history of circling the wagons tighter and tighter works decently as long as there is not a credible alternative, and that strategy has been the entirety of the Microsoft playbook for so long that there is nothing else now. It works, and as the walls grow higher, customer enmity builds while the value of an alternative grows. This cycle repeats as long as there is no alternative. If there is, everything unravels with frightening rapidity.
A company that plays this game for too long becomes set in their ways, and any chance of real change simply becomes impossible. Microsoft is there, and has been for a long long time. Their product lines have stagnated, creating customer lock in is prioritized over creating customer value, and the supply chain is controlled by an iron fisted monopoly. Any attempt at innovation with a Windows PC has been shut out for over a decade, woe betide anyone who tried to buck that trend. The history books are littered with the corpses of companies that tried to make change the ‘Windows experience’. Microsoft’s displeasure is swift and fatal to those that try. Or at least it was.

A former Microsoft employee tried telling Sinofsky that it is a lost cause:

Congratulations on leaving Microsoft. Unless you have bills to pay, you won’t regret it. I left at the end of 2004, and have since studied a vast and amazing — but still flawed – world of computing out there.

For example, I discovered that we should already have cars that (optionally) drive us around and computers that talk to us. Linux on the desktop is powerful and rich but failing because of several strategic mistakes. Google claims to be a friend of Linux and free software, but most of their interesting AI code is locked up. Programming should be a part of basic math literacy for every child. The biotechnology world is proprietary like Microsoft, which is stunting progress in new medicines.

When Microsoft turns to Linux it often ends up badly. Even Microsoft veterans are a problem, e.g. when they hijack VMware, only to end up as trolls with "big boobs" type of jokes:

Thanks, VMware. In Microsoft’s case it turned out that nothing was using that value and it could be replaced without breaking things.

That’s according to the UEFI guy, who helped legitimise a headache to Linux users. As we explained before, Microsoft is too focused making life miserable for Android distributors (with UEFI requirements and patent litigation), so it loses sight of its own products, Even when Vista 8 is given away cheaply or for free people now choose Linux/Android. What an interesting time it is to be a Linux/FOSS advocate! █

“It’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not.”

–Bill Gates

Picture sent by a reader

Summary: An interview with the Open Source Relations Manager of Mandriva, one who is boasting a pivotal role in the free office suites space

MR. Charles-H. Schulz is prominent in the Free/open source world and he is no stranger to Techrights. 4 years ago we wrote about him in relation to ODF advocacy and a year later we interviewed him. Recently, Charles got an appointment at Mandriva and last week he also got married. We decided to catch up and learn more about Mandriva, Openoffice.org, and LibreOffice.

Techrights: Please explain to us your role in Mandriva.

Charles-H. Schulz: My official title is “Open Source Relations Manager”. My role is to help with the general open source strategy of Mandriva SA, and that implies several levels of involvement, either with the community or with the corporate level as well.

How does one go about transitioning from a corporate-centric model into a community-based one?

The answer is both simple and complex at the same time. Let’s define the terms here for the sake of clarity. A corporate centric model of open source governance, or better, a corporate centric model of FOSS project is a model where one corporation defines the project, is supposed to reap the benefits out of it, has a weak governance structure, and where most of the contributors are individuals who contribute to the project are individuals who are employed by the said corporation or by its affiliates.

“It’s a model that allows for a diversity of stakeholders to get involved at various levels of the project, from the contributor to the leadership.”A community-centric model is not a model where there are no corporations around. It’s a model that allows for a diversity of stakeholders to get involved at various levels of the project, from the contributor to the leadership. It is also a model where the governance structure tends to be more defined, because the project is actually much more independent and does not rest on one sponsor for most of its resources and contributors.

So how do we transition from the former to the latter is by assessing what the main sponsor can offer, and by setting up a governance structure that allows a diversity of contributors to get involved. The resources question here is crucial. What do we need? How many servers? What’s the migration process? And of course, what’s the governance, and how do we make the new project truly independent from the former sponsor (regardless of the friendly or unfriendly relationship with this sponsor)?

I think the keyword here is “contributor”. If you have enough contributors outside the main sponsor who are coming from diverse affiliations, then you have a sustainable project.

That’s the kind of questions we have been studying on the 19^th of June in Paris together with the Mandriva Linux community representatives. I think the results are very encouraging, and that we manage to make sense of what we want to do, how we are going to do it and why we do it; now we are entering the actual phase of work, and we’ll try to keep this committee work effective while trying to involve the community at large on specific areas.

What office suite does Mandriva use by default and why?

Mandriva uses LibreOffice by default. And if you ask why, it’s simply because it’s the best free office suite ever.

You have had experience ushering a community from one project (OpenOffice.org) to another (LibreOffice) amid times of uncertainty and great risk. Are these are parallels to this case?

I think there are, although here we have the main sponsor, Mandriva SA, who is very open about the reasons why it can no longer sustain a Linux distribution project on its own, and therefore is working directly with the community to make an independent project emerge. That’s the main difference. There are parallels though that tend to be more subtle: What we’re trying to achieve, just like with the transition from Openoffice.org to LibreOffice, is a culture shift from “it will get done by someone else” to “we must do it”. In other words, there is the same demand and urge to set up a fully meritocratic system.

How is collaboration between OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice coming along?

You mean between Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice? Because Openoffice.org is dead, and it had several children. The collaboration is limited on practical terms because of the licensing differences, but we are rebasing our code on the latest Apache OpenOffice in order to be able to have a cleaner licensed base. Right now, we must still deal with the LGPL v3, and while it’s a great licence it cannot change over time; so we have embarked in a relicensing effort towards MPL v2 and GPL v3+ and we are looking forward the interesting switch at Apache OpenOffice from the Openoffice.org codebase to the Symphony codebase; there will certainly be some code we might be able to reuse. Although, when you come to think of it, it’s funny to enter the Apache Incubation Process with one software you’re inheriting, and to use a different software you’ve also inherited just after the incubation process is completed

Mandriva was once one of the most used (if not the most used) distributions of GNU/Linux. Where would you position the distribution on those terms in 2012?

“What we will end up seeing in 2012 and onwards, is a great community powered distribution that’s separate from the company itself; and the company offering a range of Linux-powered products and platforms for the enterprise and the education market.”Let’s face it, the Mandriva Linux distribution was for years the most widely used distribution around. It’s not the case anymore. Several changes happen in the GNU/Linux distribution market and Mandriva never really caught them. It’s not so much that the distribution became outdated: if anything, using Mandriva today, or its fork, Mageia, shows just as advanced, beautiful and user-friendly the distribution is. But the alignment between a sound corporate strategy and the community side of things was never really thought of until now. What we will end up seeing in 2012 and onwards, is a great community powered distribution that’s separate from the company itself; and the company offering a range of Linux-powered products and platforms for the enterprise and the education market. So if anything, you’ll see more of Mandriva as a corporate distribution, and more of the Mandriva Linux community as a community distribution; there is no fork here, but a friendly and productive relationship with no exclusive reliance on each other.

Congratulations on the wedding. Have you gotten the wife using GNU/Linux yet?

Oh, when I met Melissa she was already using the Gimp on Windows. She’s a very creative individual, and a few months after the beginning of our relationship, her old laptop broke. I introduced her to GNU/Linux; she used various distributions: Ubuntu for a long time, but also Mandriva, and now she’s a very happy Fedora user. I should also add that she created all of our wedding decorations, from the menus to the walls,
with the Gimp; she’s a poweruser of the Gimp and there are several community members, including me, who approached her asking whether she’d be interested in providing video tutorials for the project. █

Summary: A Mandriva derivative/fork joins the OIN while many more companies huddle around Linux organisations such as the Linux Foundation

THE GNU/LINUX system is growing very strong, very quickly. OIN too is growing strong with a new addition almost every week and a former Novell employee, Joe Brockmeier, has been trying to explain how OIN works, including its blind spots, e.g.:

OIN, in other words, isn’t a magic bullet for companies that are doing business on top of Linux.

Mageia joins OIN based on very few reports (Mageia is a new and thus obscure distribution).

As we explained before, the Linux Foundation and the OIN are closely related and the Linux Foundation too is growing at an incredible pace (we covered this in the daily links). The most jaw-dropping addition was Broadcom (just earlier this month) and IDG said that “IP management company Protecode and Timesys both joined this week, and Cybercom and GoAhead will join Broadcom in announcing their own membership next week.”

“Hopefully,” wrote Groklaw, “they are also going to join Open Invention Network.”

The addition of Protecode shows that the Linux Foundation is really not selective, however even if Microsoft joined the Linux Foundation or the OIN (it is said to have been invited), that would not jeopardise the GNU/Linux world; to the contrary — it would probably defang Microsoft to a high extent. █

Summary: What becoming a “partner” of Microsoft actually means based on history and based on the present

WHEN someone becomes a partner of Microsoft, this often means that Microsoft will exploit the peer while pretending to be a friend. There are hardly any exceptions to this rule, as anyone who is a Microsoft watcher ought to know by now. To trust a predator is to simply ignore its inner instincts and that’s what Microsoft is — a predator.

As the SCO case comes to an end the WordPerfect case resumes. We last wrote about it in March-April [1, 2].

According to Groklaw, “Novell Appeals in Microsoft Antitrust Litigation on WordPerfect Claims”:

Novell has filed a Notice of Appeal in its antitrust litigation against Microsoft. That’s the case about its WordPerfect claims. Despite Microsoft prevailing on its motion to dismiss, for technical reasons I’ll explain a bit in a minute, I want you to read what the judge said Microsoft did to Novell:

Microsoft did not just withdraw a charitable helping hand; rather, Microsoft allegedly first cooperated in an effort to improve its own product, subsequently misled Novell into relying on information provided pursuant to that cooperation, and then withdrew its cooperation after Novell reasonably relied on Microsoft’s representations.

Ouch. Bad doggie. Microsoft didn’t prevail because it was clean as the driven snow, in other words. It prevailed on a theory of what the contract covered that is so convoluted, I can barely explain it to you, although I will try, and because as a result of that theory, the judge ruled it was too late to go to court over what happened. I wanted to remind you, in case some of you have forgotten, that it’s not historically unmitigated good news when Microsoft decides it wants to partner with you.

“Partner with you” usually means “exploit you”. Microsoft attracts users, but not computer users. It attracts employees who are users — people who use other people. I happen to have personal experience with such people (not involving myself directly, but I discussed this with a friend who is a victim today); Microsoft employment turns them into arrogant users who think that they can exploit other people and get away with it. Judges have said so too, having looked at extensive evidence.

It was rather bizarre when Tuxera publicly stated that Microsoft would be a great partner. While it would be wise to boycott exFAT and products that use it (and refuse such products from anyone who brings them over and thus pressures a peer to buy from Microsoft), it is sometimes impractical. This trap from Microsoft is a vicious one because it means that people who swap USB devices (even cameras) may rely on or require Microsoft exFAT patents. It’s the same with exchange of documents sometimes (so exFAT is just like OOXML in some ways, therefore both should be avoided at all costs). Malik’s network of sites advertises exFAT this week and so do other Microsoft-sympathetic sources. The latter notes:

Tuxera has licensed the appropriate technology from Microsoft so companies deploying exFAT are entitled to use the technology enabled by the filesystem. The company has not named any partners who have licensed the technology for Android, but it is likely we will see exFAT on Android devices down the road.

Hopefully not. Better yet, Google ought to work hard to abolish exFAT, which mustn’t be anywhere near an industry ‘standard’. It should be considered an antitrust offence.

Speaking of Microsoft partners, Ulteo had a little announcement to make and some readers were concerned because of the Gaël Duval link (Mandrake founder). But the thing is, Ulteo has always been Windows-oriented in its newer path (adjunct to Windows function after attempts to just be a GNU/Linux distribution). Ulteo will sooner or later find out that Microsoft “partnerships” are a one-way relationship. Many companies found that out the hard way. These are partnerships of desperation or gullibility, disguised as a marriage of convenience. █

“An analogy [of Microsoft] would be the owner of a toll bridge, which is the only bridge across a river, paying the owner of land to deny access to a site where a competitive bridge is partly built.”

–Judge Robert Bork, former US Supreme Court nominee

“Their documents display a clear intent to monopolize, to prevent any competition from springing up. And they have used a variety of restrictive practices to prevent that kind of competition.”

–Judge Robert Bork, former US Supreme Court nominee

Summary: Mandriva gets rid of Beagle in the 2010.1 (Spring) release

SOME moments ago, as the log at the bottom shows, we found out that Mandriva had removed Beagle from the latest version of its GNU/Linux distribution (one of my favourite distributions). This is encouraging news which comes right after Ubuntu's removal of F-Spot and Fedora’s removal of Mono as a whole. Two years ago we warned Mandriva that it had created an unnecessary Mono dependency in OpenOffice.org and Mandriva responded by fixing it.

“This is encouraging news which comes right after Ubuntu’s removal of F-Spot and Fedora’s removal of Mono as a whole.”Mono dependents are fine, but probably not in a default installation of a GNU/Linux distribution.

The good news is that, as time goes by, GNU/Linux is advancing in many areas and vendors that sold out to Microsoft (decided to pay Microsoft for Linux, unlike Mandriva) are going extinct. Novell will probably be sold shortly and Xandros (which includes Linspire) is hardly ever mentioned in the news anymore. Presto is mentioned here and Xandros is mentioned here, but it’s more of an historical mention. █

DaemonFC	schestowitz: Mandriva is moving away from Mono a bit	May 25 07:43
schestowitz	How so?	May 25 07:44
DaemonFC	2010.1 will replace Beagle with Tracker	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	Nice	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	Good proof?	May 25 07:44
DaemonFC	yes	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	Page/screenshot?	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	Just in case	May 25 07:44
DaemonFC	http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/2010.1_RC	May 25 07:44
Techrights	Title: 2010.1 RC – Mandriva Community Wiki .::. Size~: 61.51 KB	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	I want to verify to avoid mikstakes	May 25 07:44
DaemonFC	Tracker is now replacing Beagle as document search engine.	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	DaemonFC: thanks	May 25 07:44
schestowitz	what mono is left in it then?	May 25 07:44
DaemonFC	the runtime itself and F-Spot I believe	May 25 07:45
schestowitz	no tomboy/gnote?	May 25 07:45
DaemonFC	oh, forgot about that	May 25 07:46
DaemonFC	doesn’t say anything about getting rid of Tomboy, 2010 had it	May 25 07:46
DaemonFC	Beagle uses a hell of a lot of resources though	May 25 07:46
-BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[nsisodiya] Now searching for a girl assistant for various task at my company. btw operation was successful and I am OK.		May 25 07:47
DaemonFC	it’s not uncommon for it to sit there and take 80 MB of RAM just for itself while indexing	May 25 07:47
DaemonFC	Tracker usually takes more like 30	May 25 07:47
DaemonFC	those little mono applets here and there gang up on you, take up way more resources than they’re worth	May 25 07:48
DaemonFC	Tomboy takes about double the memory of Gnote	May 25 07:48
schestowitz	Recoll took gigabytes	May 25 07:49
schestowitz	The index	May 25 07:49
schestowitz	Not the program	May 25 07:49
schestowitz	For my home dir	May 25 07:49
DaemonFC	I have to wonder what the hell these distributions are thinking when they needlessly pile these things on	May 25 07:49
DaemonFC	makes it useless on older PCs with less than 1 GB of RAM	May 25 07:49
DaemonFC	and while there are equivalent programs that use half the memory all over the place	May 25 07:50
DaemonFC	Beagle is like WinFS for Linux	May 25 07:53
-BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[zoobab] With multiple patents, stronger patent rights can have the perverse effect of stifling, not encouraging, innovation http://ur1.ca/038r1		May 25 07:55
Techrights	Title: Fast forward >> – The H Open Source: News and Features .::. Size~: 37.78 KB	May 25 07:55
DaemonFC	hmmm, Indiana University isn’t mirroring the RC	May 25 07:56
DaemonFC	nor is Purdue	May 25 07:56
DaemonFC	those have always been the fastest mirrors for me	May 25 07:57
*Diablo-D3 (~diablo@pool-64-222-232-11.port.east.myfairpoint.net) has joined #boycottnovell		May 25 07:57
MinceR	beagle isn’t like winfs for linux. beagle actually exists.	May 25 07:57
DaemonFC	MinceR: part of WinFS ended up in Windows 7	May 25 07:57
DaemonFC	as “libraries”	May 25 07:57
DaemonFC	more irritating than helpful	May 25 07:58
MinceR	that describes m$ products in general	May 25 07:58
DaemonFC	“You can’t save here you idiot!”	May 25 07:58
DaemonFC		May 25 07:58
-BNtwitter/#boycottnovell-[zoobab] Absolute power has corrupted the MPEG-LA absolutely http://ur1.ca/031fu		May 25 07:59
Techrights	Title: Nero Files Antitrust Case Against MPEG-LA .::. Size~: 30.37 KB	May 25 07:59
DaemonFC	so they end up making you scroll through C:\Users\<user name>\My Music for example	May 25 07:59
DaemonFC	you can’t just click Music and Save	May 25 07:59
DaemonFC	so I redid it all so that the actual folders are in my favorites	May 25 07:59
schestowitz	Let me see, hold on….	May 25 08:00
DaemonFC	and it ends up “My Documents” “My Music” My Pictures” etc. on top of “Music” “Documents” “Pictures”	May 25 08:00
DaemonFC	still aggravating and no way to turn it off	May 25 08:00

Summary: Novell’s end as a publicly-traded company seems inevitable based on the plan to have an auction

VERY recently (earlier this week in fact) we wrote about a takeover of Novell.

Shareholders pay attention to the news and the stock is moving a lot [1, 2, 3]. This volatility is ending with Novell being down today (along with the rest of the market), having gained a little when takeover news come in and share price fluctuated.

The latest news about Novell is important enough an event to be ranked high inside the digests, especially at Reuters where the latest turn in this story seems to have begun.

As many as 20 bidders are interested in buying U.S. software company Novell Inc (NOVL.O), which has put itself up for sale and is this week accepting bids, the Wall Street Journal reported. [ID:nN19268405]

Here are a couple more digests [1, 2].

Up to 20 bidders interested in Novell
As many as 20 bidders are interested in buying software company Novell Inc, which has put itself up for sale and is this week accepting bids, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The original report is here and it says:

As many as 20 bidders are interested in buying software company Novell Inc (NOVL.O), which has put itself up for sale and is this week accepting bids, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Resultant coverage includes:

• Calls Sold on Novell Inc.

• Novell Accepting Acquisition Bids: Report

As many as 20 companies are interested in acquiring software vendor Novell, and this week marks the deadline for potential buyers to submit bids, according to a published report.

• Novell seeks new suitors

Novell, which put itself on the block some months ago, has sought expressions of interest from suitors by the end of the week, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

• Report: Novell to accept bids this week for sale

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the newspaper said a group of finalists probably will be picked from bidders whose proposals are due this week.

• Novell to solicit buyout offers this week, report says

• Novell Draws 20 Bidders

• Novell Accepting Bids This Week: Report

• Suitors Line Up For Novell

• Twenty interested parties likely to bid for US software maker Novell

• Novell Acquisition Bids Going Public

Up to 20 firms, mostly hedge funds, are considering trying to take over the software company.

• Report: Novell accepting bids from up to 20 companies

Novell are expected to select a number of bidders as “finalists” and then hold an auction amongst that group. Novell declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal on the matter.

Based on that paragraph/sentence, it seems like a sale is inevitable.

An ex employee of Novell, Matt Asay, spins it a little with the headline “Novell: 20 chances to reinvent itself” (idioms side, hedge funds cannot invent much, except structure or liquidation).

Regardless, Novell needs to go private so that it can make the hard decisions it has been wanting to make since at least 2002, when I was there. Novell’s pressure to grow while under the fierce spotlight of Wall Street prompted its ill-fated engagement with Microsoft, which has delivered short-term revenue while destroying long-term value and goodwill within the open-source community.

The VAR Guy too defends Novell, which is expected given his relationship with the company.

Novell expects to evaluate initial takeover bids for the company this week, according to The Wall Street Journal. As many as 20 companies have expressed interest in Novell, the Journal said. Of course, The VAR guy has his own opinion of the situation. Here it is…

According to this article in French, Novell was seen as a candidate to buy Mandriva too. From the automated translation we have Novell’s CMO John Dragoon saying: “Some aspects of the company Mandriva are interesting, for sure. We have great respect for its technology, but this is not what might interest us.” The last thing Mandriva needs right now is Novell and its patent relationship with Microsoft. █

Summary: Mandriva is up for sale; Brockmeier seemingly hopes that Mandriva won’t find a buyer

THE old S.u.S.E.-Mandriva rivalry in Europe might not be the cause for this bizarre piece from Novell’s former booster (he no longer works for Novell [1, 2], which is also up for sale), but either way, here he is commenting about Mandriva’s fate, not wishing them what they want.

Maybe it’s better if Mandriva doesn’t find a buyer

[...]

As a non-Mandriva user, I don’t really have a stake in whether the company succeeds or fails or whether something called Mandriva continues to exist in any form. As a Linux user, I love the variety that exists and having many choices of Linux distros — but I also see enormous wasted effort. Too much work, too few hands. And, especially and unfortunately, too many folks unwilling to compromise on any features or technical decisions when they can just fork or have their own playground — which ultimately results in tons of duplicate work and a fragmented environment.

There are other posts that are jokes about Mandriva, which is one of my favourite distributions of GNU/Linux.

Mandbuntu will initially ship with only one desktop environment/windows manager, the newly reconfigured (just for Mandbuntu) DuXfce. Rumor again informs us that a KDuxE version will be available soon. More rumors from lower level custodial crew claim that the French duck dish theme will continue. The next version will probably be Mandbuntu 12.0 – Peking Duck.

For those who believe that this is bad for Mandriva customers, well… in the worst case scenario it is easy to move from one distribution to another, which actually makes GNU/Linux a much safer choice for businesses. There are more contingencies and control of code, which proprietary operating systems cannot ever offer.

To give one example of a contingency, there is PCLinuxOS (rooted in Mandrake/riva), whose latest version Susan Linton has just reviewed, concluding:

Perhaps trumping all the technical aspects of this distro is a sense of ownership for its users. PCLinuxOS is one of the best examples of the “community distro.” The small band of developers take suggestions and cues from their users very much to heart and even solicit opinions, artwork, and software requests. This is perhaps the key to PCLOS’ success. It allows the community to feel not only involved, but important to development. They all can feel as though they contributed at least in some small way.

Our daily links contain many more reviews of PCLinuxOS 2010 and articles about Mandriva’s situation (it is not the focus of this Web site). I ran PCLinuxOS 2010 on my computer 2 weeks ago and it was splendid. Mandriva users have nothing to worry about, no matter what happens next. █

Summary: Rant about Adobe Trash [sic] and what it teaches us about Mono/Moonlight

I have been upgrading to KDE 4.4.2 since last night (not decided on which distribution of GNU/Linux yet) and one thing that ought to be said is that I spent more time getting gnash/flash to function than I spent installing GNU/Linux (current desktop shown above). Gnash is not most trivial to install and some sites that I use strictly require Adobe Trash [sic] Player. Adobe’s installer did not work properly and needed a workaround (command line hack) that I came up with after struggling with it for 1.5 hours. Shame on Adobe.

This morning I also received the following mail from one of our readers, whose message could not come at a better time. Here it is:

What is true for Apple about Flash is true for GNU/Linux about Mono(=Microsoft .Net)

This is in regard with Steve Jobs post yesterday explaining Apple’s position respect Adobe’s Flash.

Notice that Apple took a more radical approach which is to apply a full ban on flash for their platform (except Mac).

In GNU/Linux there is no problem with the existence/availability of Mono:there is problem with those pushing it making it a dependency by default, yet the Mono apologists and Microsoft revisionists cry foul when someone objects that including Mono by default is a really dumb idea and a loosing strategy.

Imagine Apple making parts of its OS for smartphones dependent on Flash?

I think many of Steve’s motives for rejecting flash are very much valid for GNU/Linux and Free Software to reject dependency on Mono and technologies whose direction is not decided nor lead by the community (in fact it is lead by an entity that is set to disrupt and destroy the FOSS environment).

From Apple’s Web site:

“Sixth, the most important reason.[...]

We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.

This becomes even worse if the third party is supplying a cross platform development tool. The third party may not adopt enhancements from one platform unless they are available on all of their supported platforms. Hence developers only have access to the lowest common denominator set of features. Again, we cannot accept an outcome where developers are blocked from using our innovations and enhancements because they are not available on our competitor’s platforms.”

One more thing: It would also be good to substitute the notion of “Mono” by “Mono/Moonlight”: In fact, Silverlight is very much an “attack” from Microsoft to Macromedia/Adobe’s flash in order to try to reclaim their good ol’ Explorer 5/6 times chokehold on the web…

The moral of this matter is that Web standards and not proprietary ones ought to be promoted. We always try to spread Ogg in Techrights (where possible). As more services and even applications become Web based, the risk of a proprietary Web becomes greater; Mono and Moonlight also have Microsoft patent issues. █

Summary: Andre Da Costa is still trolling the competition of Vista 7 while promoting this incarnation of Vista in exchange for gifts from Microsoft

OUR dear reader Goblin is the man who exposed a Microsoft AstroTurfer, Andre Da Costa, who also goes by the pseudonym “Mr Dee” in CNET. We have noticed that he is still trolling articles about GNU/Linux. “After he confessed to nymshifting one has to wonder,” wrote Goblin. “Maybe the Da Costa name has become too toxic to use? I see now he’s pimping Window 7 competitions,” he added [1, 2]. The reality behind Vista 7 is still being warped. Also from last night’s conversation:

We are not at all surprised to hear this. On the contrary, many people are pleased with Mandriva, which is one of my favourites (others in the family use it). Another reader commenting on the same superb article from Richard Hillesley points out that:

Anyone else see the irony?

[...]

This paragraph brought a wry smile to my face:

“Miguel de Icaza, at that time a rising star of the free software movement and co-creator, with Federica Mena, of the rival GNOME project, expressed the mixed feelings of many users and developers. “KDE was an inspirational project,” he told Linux Journal, “but at the time, the Qt toolkit on which KDE was built was a proprietary toolkit.”

The fact that he’s working with Microsoft now in producing the wretchedly slow Mono to provide compatibility with .NET and potentially laying Linux open to all sorts of future problems is deliciously ironic.

In terms of Mandriva, hopefully they will survive and flourish again, it still hangs in there fairly high up in Distrowatch. They probably do KDE better than any other distro and have done a splendid job with the now excellent KDE4 desktop.

There is some new Mono software from Novell employees this week [1, 2]. It’s fine for Novell, but it’s a patent fine for the rest.

Mandriva is indeed an excellent distribution. It puts to shame other operating systems, but it just doesn’t advertise as much. Since it is still KDE-centric for the most part, it hasn’t much of a Mono problem, either. █

Summary: A little interlude about where the site is going and why it needs help from readers

There is some discussion in the IRC channel about what may happen to Novell next. We are still producing almost 1 megabyte of IRC discussion per day (usually about 600 kilobytes on average), which makes up about 95% of feedback from readers (Boycott Novell is approaching an audience of 10,000 unique visitors per day, but commenting requires an account).

We thought it would be reasonable to say something about the future now that Novell is at a mortal crossroad because of a vulture fund that had a coup planned for 3-4 months [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. We append some more references at the bottom.

“If Novell was bought and dismantled, this Web site’s name would remain for all all sorts of practical/technical reasons and considerations.”Four GNU/Linux vendors (as opposed to users of it, mostly those who embed it in hardware) signed a Linux patent deal with Microsoft in 2006-2007. The GPLv3 may have stopped this flood of feeble vendors which ended up joining the racket. Linspire got picked up by Xandros, which appears to have almost quit the GNU/Linux market, Turbolinux sort of collapsed onto another firm in Asia, and Novell is now the last one standing. This is major as it means that almost all the companies we boycotted are dying, as opposed to those who kept it ‘clean’ (notably Mandriva, Canonical, and Red Hat). This just comes to show what happens to those who foolishly take Microsoft’s side.

The main issues are still the digital hydras known as Apple and Microsoft, both of which are now legally attacking GNU/Linux with software patents (Apple versus HTC [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], Microsoft versus TomTom, SCO versus IBM, et cetera).

If Novell was bought and dismantled, this Web site’s name would remain for all all sorts of practical/technical reasons and considerations.

We will try to focus on delivering news summaries on a daily basis (these are the most popular items here) and also address threats to Free software. With a Ph.D. completed, I hope to write Boycott Novell full time (sacrificing an academic career to advance the freedom of software), but it would not be possible without help from readers. We estimate that there are many thousands of regular readers who have enjoyed this site for over 3 years (almost 10,000 blog posts were published here), so if each reader was willing to donate a few bucks/quid, that would enable us to carry on going. At the same time, we realise that such moves rarely work as they do not bring in funds, so we are left reluctant to ask for financial assistance (even though it’s needed). Any advice would be appreciated. █
____
[1] How Much Will Novell Go For? [The 451 Group reckons Novell's sale is inevitable]

As bargains go, Novell’s (NOVL) valuation in the recently floated bid from a hedge fund is a bit like a ‘crazy Eddie’ discount. Earlier this week, Elliott Associates offered $5.75 for each of the roughly 350,000 shares for Novell. Altogether, the equity value totals about $2bn.

[2] Will Novell Finally Be Acquired? [from the 'Microsoft press']

[3] Novell Gets $2 Billion Takeover Offer From Elliott

Whether they’re interested in breaking Novell into pieces or simply after Novell’s patent portfolio or intellectual property remains to be seen at this point. Either way I don’t see the acquisition being good for Novell or Open Source though. Which brings the next question. Is another suitor likely to jump in at this point. the Var Guy lists IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Computer Associates as potential options. I’d add Cisco as another potential Dark Horse candidate, but agree that IBM and HP are exceedingly unlikely. The realty is that Novell is going to be difficult to digest from a strategic standpoint. They have at least four divergent businesses and Linux only makes up about 20% of the company’s revenue. That means a private-equity firm taking the company private and restructuring may be the most viable option at this point.

[4] BBC America: Palast Hunts the Vultures [hedge funds are so unethical that some consider banning them]

Some vultures have feathers, but some have fancy offices and huge homes. Tonight, BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast follows the trail of one “vulture fund” chief, from a locked office door in New York to mud-brick houses in Africa.

How strange. When I arrive at the offices of Eric Hermann at hedge fund FH International, just outside New York City, the company’s corporate sign is unbolted from the wall and the suite number removed from the door.

But wait … I hear noises inside the office. Huh? I knock on the locked door and out steps the office building’s security manager.

Direct link

Summary: How four vendors of desktop GNU/Linux lost their direction after joining Microsoft’s software patents racket

LINSPIRE/LINDOWS is no more, as things went downhill after it had signed a patent deal with Microsoft. It sold out, so GNU/Linux users did not give it a second chance. As for Novell, it seems heavily focused these days on Silverlight and .NET. Moonlight and Mono are no longer even targeting GNU/Linux; Novell releases Mono products for platforms like the Apple iPhone, Mac OS X, even Windows [1, 2], with similar impact on the Nintendo Wii. Novell has essentially been transformed by the Microsoft deal just like Corel was.

“Perhaps there has not been high demand for their $50 Microsoft “patent protection” product for Debian derivatives.”Back in June, Xandros publicly revealed that is was not a GNU/Linux company anymore. “We are kind of getting away from being a Linux company” is the exact quote. Perhaps there has not been high demand for their $50 Microsoft "patent protection" product for Debian derivatives.

Well, based on this new press release (also here), Xandros walks further away from GNU/Linux, which is good news given what the company has done to GNU/Linux (and for Microsoft).

Xandros today announced the launch of Apps2Market, the first true cross-platform white label application store and m-commerce service. Apps2Market creates custom app store environments that are capable of reaching users with any digital content and applications in a growing, fragmented internet-connected device market.

Here is a short article about this.

Calling it the “first rue cross-platform white label applications store,” Apps2Market is aimed at creating an app store for any platform out there, so long as it’s Intel or ARM-based web-devices. The idea is that software vendors, automotive vendors, or any other manufacturers can create a marketplace custom-tailored for applications specific to the device they’re selling.

The last time we wrote about Turbolinux we showed that it too had lost its direction after the patent deal with Microsoft. Deals with Microsoft are a death knell. By contrast, companies like Mandriva, Red Hat and Canonical stayed focused. The conclusion is obvious. █

–Steve Ballmer, 2001

Summary: Response to over-inflated complaints and FUD about Ubuntu 9.10, which seem to have begun with known Microsoft boosters

THE launch of Vista 7 was not a success. Even Microsoft's CEO knows it. So what would a company like Microsoft naturally do? Well, its ecosystem of Internet trolls/AstroTurfers has been attacking Ubuntu 9.10 for several weeks now, both in Web sites and in Internet forums.

One might jokingly suggest that Microsoft is applying in reverse the same “hype machine” it used for Vista 7, this time aiming it against the #1 rival of Microsoft, namely GNU/Linux (even on the desktop). Inevitably — however belated it is — Microsoft listed Ubuntu as a “risk” in its last SEC filing (Microsoft must do so, as shareholders can otherwise sue).

My most recent install of GNU/Linux was one of Ubuntu 9.10^*. I tested it 2 months before the release and reported some bugs that I found (mostly minor, no show-stoppers). It has worked almost flawlessly for me since alpha (with KDE), meaning that all the hardware worked out of the box and hitherto there have been no substantial technical issues. People whom I speak to report similarly-positive experiences.

A couple of days ago we linked to the following post, which says:

The Myth of the Bad Ubuntu Release

[...]

OK, so there’s something that always disturbs me when release time comes around. Here’s a rough chronology of every Ubuntu release (at least since I’ve been involved, so that goes back to Breezy Badger) and what the “buzz” around the internet says:

1. Alphas come out: buzz says, “not much to see here folks, move along.”
2. Beta comes out: buzz says, “wow, great release, but where’s the new artwork?” and I’m thinking “How on earth can the pull this off?”
3. RC rolls around: buzz says, “new awesomeness right around the corner!” and I’m thinking “darn it, there’s a lot more to do.”
4. Release day: buzz says, “OMG I have to download this” and I’m thinking “phew, that’s over, I’m glad I rsync’d/zsync’d yesterday”
5. The week after a release: buzz says, “Noooooo, this is the worst Ubuntu release EVER!” and I’m thinking “wow, they really did pull it off”
6. Rinse and Repeat

[...]

So my conclusion, for what it’s worth, is that while some Ubuntu releases are a bit better than others, this periodic buzz around the internet that the latest Ubuntu release is an epic FAIL is a self-perpetuating myth, mostly caused by people needing something to complain or write about.

Another post from the same day correctly says that “No distro is perfect. Exaggerated reports or isolated cases will not be very helpful either in assessing these things.”

“What happens with 9.10 is not much different than usual, but the reaction is biased and exaggerated.”What the above group of posts is about are reports which label Ubuntu 9.10 a failure. A lot of people who claim such an issue (without testing for themselves) are linking to Microsoft booster Gavin Clarke, who was probably one of the first to attack Ubuntu 9.10 (in The Register). Too many people are taking his words blindly and then parroting them; it’s like an echo chamber.

Canonical has just responded in its blog, also naming Gavin Clark [sic] as one of the culprits. What happens with 9.10 is not much different than usual, but the reaction is biased and exaggerated.

The much misunderstood Ubuntu 9.10 upgrade poll

[...]

I upgraded to 9.10 a while ago. Flawlessly. So I saw little need to go tell a forum. This is where people go when they have problems. Gavin and Serdar were shocked to find people with support issues on a support forum. I have no doubt the help line at Microsoft has taken a lot of calls recently, but I would not extrapolate from that a large percentage of Windows users are having upgrade problems.

Tellingly and almost the last word on this are the polls from our previous releases, none of which were considered or reported as upgrade disasters:

Jaunty Poll

Intrepid Poll

Hardy Poll

Gutsy Poll

A very useful summary of these findings by Nicholas Ipsen is here. I am linking to these polls not because I want to provide evidence that the Karmic upgrade experience is or was good or bad, there are other more qualified to comment on that, but that there is nothing new here.

Canonical’s Jono Bacon also wrote about this subject, apparently trying not to alienate people who did genuinely have problems (all users of all operating systems encounter issues sometimes, even though these issues do not get amplified equally).

In the interests of keeping things in perspective, I just wanted to remind us all of some of the things going on in the background that I think are worth remembering. Take these for what they are, but I think they go a long way in helping to understand the picture before us.

The “picture before us” was absolutely fine for about a week (even after the release), just before Clarke and other known FUDMeisters took it upon themselves to link and quote very selectively, thus seeding material for opponents of Ubuntu. By the way, Ubuntu has opponents even inside GNU/Linux. █
_____
^* I still recommend Mandriva for new users, but at the time of my most recent install it didn’t have KDE 4.3.1 in a mature enough form.

My Kubuntu 9.10 desktop; Click for full-sized image (4.4 MB)

Summary: Mandriva clarifies (again) that it is in no way involved in/a victim of Microsoft’s patent racketeering scheme

A GOOD NEW release of Mandriva will be out very soon and the company has just set the record straight after some question arose due to Manbo.

The short story is that Mandriva and Microsoft have nothing whatsoever to do with patent deals. It is reassuring to learn this from the following new update.

Adam has already unofficially dismissed rumours on François’ part, but still I feel like pointing out the obviousness everybody with some real knowledge of Mandriva should’ve spotted..

Let’s summarize arguments against silly speculations about Mandriva wanting to consider any Microsoft deal seen from my perspective:

1. Mandriva is europe based, not such big pressure in the ~only location where such agreements would hold much relevance

2. Mandriva has no proprietary components with any concerns of Microsoft

3. ALL of Mandriva’s software published is free and has been released under the GPL, proprietary software is none of Mandriva’s concerns, only proprietary software relationships is through partners

It is important to keep Mono out of Mandriva at all costs. Novell’s interference in GNU/Linux makes it increasingly hard and when I attempt to install certain software under Mandriva (even in KDE) it insists on installing Mono where it has become a dependency. It might be worth removing from the repository all software that somehow got tainted by Mono. There are many superb substitutes anyway. █

“At Microsoft I learned the truth about ActiveX and COM and I got very interested in it inmediately [sic].”

–Miguel de Icaza