05.25.07
Posted in Dell, Free/Libre Software, FUD, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Novell at 11:20 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Which is the winning side and which is the losing side in the endless exchange of words, threats, and rebuttals? We have spotted evidence that suggests weaknesses thrive in the side of the offense, which is gradually losing its appeal. Among the flood of encoraging news about increasing adoption of Free software, there is also plenty that mentions the recent set of attacks as a key indicator of success.
Here is one such column from an eWeek Analyst.
…there was one aspect of this whole circus that struck me immediately upon seeing the news. And that was that this whole effort of FUD on the part of Microsoft is a clear sign that they have given up. Microsoft has been fighting a war for the last several years, and this announcement about the 235 patents was as clear as a white flag that they have given up on ever winning that war.
Which war is it that I’m referring to? It’s the war over you, the IT worker and administrator.
Here is another one, which also bothers to mention Dell’s milestone — one which we have neglected to point out, until now.
One thing is for sure, and despite Microsoft’s official denials; open source software is the biggest threat the company faces to its world-beating business model.
This was further underlined with Dell’s announcement that it was shipping a range of desktops and notebooks with open source operating system Ubuntu preloaded.
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Posted in Asia, Finance, Marketing, Novell at 11:03 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Over at SeekingAlpha, Eric Savitz opines that Novell might initiate stock buybacks, just like Microsoft. Additionally, following what might become a trend, we also hear about an aggressive hiring programme in India.
Novell has appointed Naresh Shah as managing director of Novell India Development Centre in Bangalore. This appointment adds onto his current role in Novell as vice president of Global Engineering Strategy. Naresh brings to Novell over 20 years of experience in the technology industry in Asia. Prior to this, he was product manager for Lucent for Mexico, with added responsibilities of managing Lucent’s relationship with AT&AT and its joint ventures in the Asia Pacific region. Novell’s India Development Centre is the second largest R&D centre for Novell worldwide and it is continuing its rapid expansion plans through an aggressive hiring programme.
Meanwhile, Novell has announced the availability of Sentinel 6.
Novell today announced that its next-generation real-time security event management product, Sentinel 6 from Novell, is generally available worldwide.
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Posted in Deals, Finance, Microsoft, Novell, Patent Covenant, Patents at 9:33 pm by Shane Coyle
Finally, some facts…
Here it is, folks. This will take some time for me to peruse, but here are some early reactions from Dave Rosenberg and Bruce Perens:
Open-source advocate Bruce Perens said he would be looking to see exactly what Novell was given through the deal and whether there is any requirement for the Linux vendor to defend Microsoft’s patent claims. “What I’m actually looking for is, to what extent was there a violation of faith?” he said.
Microsoft has claimed that Linux violates more than 235 of its patents, and because the deal offers patent protection to Novell users, it is seen as potentially driving a wedge in the Linux community. “Novell had a choice here, and Novell’s choice was to be in the same boat with the rest of the free software community, or not,” Perens said.
Based on an initial reading of the documents, Perens said the deal does not appear to provide full patent protection to Linux users. “Novell did not get complete rights regarding Microsoft patents,” he said. “For example, office productivity applications are specifically excluded. … OpenOffice.org is excluded by name, WINE and Open-Xchange are excluded by name,”
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Posted in Courtroom, Deals, Deception, Finance, FUD, Intellectual Monopoly, Law, Microsoft, Novell, OpenOffice, Patents, Red Hat, SUN, Ubuntu at 9:13 pm by Shane Coyle
Once upon a time, I had opined that Microsoft’s true bounty in the Microvell deal was Novell’s complicity in Microsoft’s attempts to undermine the E.C. Decision and fines, and that the FUD was merely a bonus.
Apparently, I hadn’t any appreciation for just how much of an economic interest the monopolist has in using any and all means to defend their position for as absolutely long as possible. While reading through the Linux Foundation’s response to Microsoft’s recent patent saber-rattling, I was taken aback at the truly staggering sums involved:
In the time it will likely take you to read this article, Microsoft will have made $500,000 in net profit. It’s instructive to note that the majority of that profit comes from its Windows operating system and Office suite of business software. Not coincidentally, those are the two product lines most threatened by Linux operating systems and Open Office.
Given the high stakes involved, it’s not surprising that Microsoft would take steps to protect its turf. In fact, it makes perfect sense. Let’s face it: If you were making $1 billion a month, what would you do? Perhaps engage in rhetoric and hyperbole to generate some old-fashioned FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt)? Just looking at the numbers, it’s easy to see that even if the scare campaign merely delays a customer’s migration from Windows to Linux by a single day, Microsoft is $34 million dollars better off.
Think about that – just one week of Novell-Fueled FUD pays for all of those SUSE subscriptions (7 days @ $34M each = $238M, MS payed $240M for 350,000 SUSE subscription coupons). Each and every day that Microsoft has been able to use Novell’s capitulation to FUD Linux since November 9th 2006 has been pure profit.
Does anyone still really want to argue that Novell was the party of advantage, as evidenced by the relatively larger (but insignificant to Microsoft, as these number indicate) payment for the patent covenant?
As far as the statement from the the Linux Foundation, they have called on Microsoft ("a rational actor") to "work with the Linux ecosystem to restore confidence in the patent system by making sure they are issued only for truly unique, innovative, and novel functions that advance the state of the art." The statement also includes not-so-subtle reminders to Microsoft that they are not the only people to hold significant patent portfolios.
Joining in the patent cold war recently, on the side of Free Software and toting a significant and focused patent portfolio of their own, was Sun’s Jonathan Schwartz, who has pledged to rally to the aid of Red Hat and Ubuntu, if need be. (It should be noted that Sun engaged in a controversial deal with Microsoft back in 2004, in which Sun secured protection from potential IP claims regarding OOO by MS for only Sun StarOffice customers – sound familiar?)
Of course, neither Microsoft nor Sun want to truly test their spurious software patents in a court of law, but moments such as these allow us some insight into the dispositions, and motivations, of the "leaders" of the software industry.
In this case Microsoft, Novell and Sun all have a vested interest in the perpetuation of the software patent myth, and would prefer just an adjustment of the broken system.
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Posted in Deals, Finance, Novell at 1:56 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
There is an excellent insight over at Dana’s open source blog. More interesting, however, is the conversation that follows. As you may recall:
Novell will give more details of its patent deal with Microsoft, although the full story wouldn’t be revealed as the company plans to redact some of the more sensitive details.
Which parts? Shane pondered this yesterday. Among Dana’s observations:
Novell faced such a choice six months ago. Microsoft offered it a fat check for its corporate soul.
Novell took the check.
Now it wants a do-over. Novell promises to (finally) share the full agreement.
The fact is that the full details of the agreement are not to be disclosed. This leads to the following short thread. Let us wait and see… not what Novell discloses, but what it chooses to hide. We impatiently wait. When Steinman addressed BoycottNovell’s questions, he said nothing about redactions.
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05.24.07
Posted in GNU/Linux, Interoperability, Microsoft, Novell, Red Hat, Servers, Standard, Windows at 11:08 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
As promised, here is another look (among others) at what shall become “interoperability tax”. The latest news is there to suggest that both Microsoft and Novell have ambitions to make free interaction between applications a thing of the past. Of course, this contradicts the whole raison d’être of establishing industry standards, including communication protocols. This also burns Red Hat’s bridges and stifles antitrust litigation in the EU.
Have a look some of Microsoft’s latest initiatives to go “open”. Microsoft bothers to mention Novell as a cornerstone in interoperability press releases (see snippet from an example below), as though costly deals are a prerequisite.
Microsoft Corp. today announced a series of offerings that foster improved interoperability for online identity management.
Where is a wider consent and why are industry consortia contantly being ignored? Here is another example from the news:
Microsoft has developed a split personality when it comes to its public posture on open source software that could potentially create confusion among IT shops using both.
Last week, Microsoft said its patents were being violated by “Linux-like” software. This week company said it would link its Active Directory with the OpenLDAP Directory, which is an open source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
It gets worse. It appears as though this deal with Novell motivates some people to move to Windows, not Linux. This relates to a dicussion that goes back to Novell’s joint press release on HSBC. It said Windows was cheaper than Linux for that one bank. Novell gave its approval. In any event, here is the story of one software vendor that has just ported an application to Windows, reassured by the Microsoft/Novell deal.
Damian Reeves, CTO of Zeus, says his company is “relatively unconcerned” about any potential impact on Linux vendors and the Linux installed base. “There’s a parallel with the IBM v. SCO dispute of a couple years ago when there was a lot of concern about whether using Linux was legal. That became a bit of a non-story and this may play out in a similar way,” he says. He adds that any customers that are concerned about the issue can opt for Novell’s SuSE Linux, which is covered by a Microsoft-Novell agreement that indemnifies customers against any legal liability.
The story contains negatives, not positives. Last but not least, see Microsoft’s own perspective.
This creates a real problem for customers, and Microsoft’s licensing program is designed to solve it, according to Muglia.
However, Microsoft has been accused of creating that very problem. Its patent licensing deals with Novell and other companies have come under fire for creating fear, uncertainty and doubt among users of open-source software.
How has Novell solved anything? It only isolated itself from the community, to reap benefits at the community’s expense. It is discouraging to see that some people give Novell the benefit of the doubt. Others apologise. They want convenient shortcuts to functionality, even if it means compromising the need for free exchange of information and true industry standards.
Update: Novell has just pushed a press release boasting an interoperability award, but is it an accomplishment at all when it’s done by punishing not only Linux rivals, but also the community that gave it Free software?
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Posted in Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Interoperability, Microsoft, Novell at 10:44 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
The headline is inspired by a nice analogy from Pamela Jones. We have identified some very interesting information in the latest discussion at Groklaw. Let us start with this:
Meanwhile, Antone Gonsalves at EETimes reports that Microsoft says it isn’t attacking Open Source. It is just responding to customer demand. Shades of SCO. Must be the same customers SCO told us were begging them to set up SCOsource licensing. Here’s what Microsoft’s Bob Muglia said:
Muglia said Microsoft was focused on interoperability with open source software, not on challenging the use of its intellectual property in court. “Our approach is a licensing based one,” Muglia said. “It’s a real issue for customers, and one that Microsoft is addressing proactively.”
I just can’t turn off my paralegal brain, which translates that to say: We won’t sue you as long as you pay us. I believe I can get similar terms from the Mafia.
We’ll shortly publish an item dedicated solely to the issue of interoperability and the “interop tax” which Microsoft and Novell so stubbornly insist on introducing. But here’s another slip of the mouth (what at least appears to be the case) from Steinman:
Update: Another part of Shankland’s report has this offensive bit, from Justin Steinman. Who else?
Microsoft’s patent tally news both pleased and displeased Novell, said Justin Steinman, the company’s marketing director for Linux.
On the displeased side, Novell saw the news as “another round of, ’0h no, here we go again.’ We generally think comments like that aren’t productive,” Steinman said.
On the pleased side, Novell potentially can profit from the saber-rattling. “If Microsoft is going to go out and raise concerns, we are comfortable we can offer (customers) coverage,” Steinman said. Overall, though, Novell wasn’t pleased. “Do we wish the tone of the article had been different? I think so.”
I could probably make some money selling my mother’s blood, if I had no conscience. Or I could rob a liquor store. There’s money in that, I hear. Profit isn’t the only indicator of whether a deal is a good idea or not.
Right on point. In part, Novell continues to thrive in the community’s pain. That’s the very same community from which its product came. Novell still bites the hand that feeds it. In case you remain unconvinced, here is another statement which supports this assertion.
When Microsoft suggests that Linux developers have stolen its IP, “I feel that I’ve been called a thief,” he said. As a result, he concluded, the Microsoft/Novell deal might be good for Novell “but it’s not good for the community” of open-source developers and users.
Here is the perspective of Tom Adelstein, which indirectly addresses the exclusionary deal and its impact.
I seem to recall something about unfair trade practices. Can a monopoly favor one organization with the same product offering over another? Hmmm, I’m not a lawyer and I don’t practice law. But, as a private citizen, I can recall some interesting legal battles here and there. Something about Linspire comes to mind. And something about announcements that stop people from buying products because of threatening announcements also comes to mind.
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Posted in Deception, FUD, GPL, Microsoft at 10:24 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
A few days ago we mentioned the latest miserable attempt to discredit GPLv3. The attempt has been extremely controversial and it came from no-one other than Microsoft, although Novell will certainly be pleased to see GPLv3 failing. A journalist comments on this study:
In any kind of research environment 34 respondents is not “more than sufficient” for making sweeping statements about the opinions of thousands of people.
Only 16 of those respondents were actually contributing to projects that use the GPL/LGPL
The deeper you look at this, the nastier the creases get. The study is flawed for so many reasons, yet it led to misleading headlines appearing in the news. And that’s precisely what Microsoft wants. A popular SUSE blogged, who recently lost trust in Novell, comments on this ‘study’ as well.
Do I feel pity that Microsoft’s efforts were misconstrued yet again? Hell, no. Microsoft has a long history of lying, cheating, and outright theft in the accomplishment of its singular goal of total domination in all markets it wants to play in. Microsoft went looking yet again to buy more support for their position with regard to the GPLv3. And Microsoft got sloppy in deciding to run with this particular study.
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