02.27.09

IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: February 27th, 2009 – Part 1

Posted in IRC Logs at 11:55 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Enter the IRC channel now

Read the rest of this entry »

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Links 27/02/2009: New XFCE Released, PC/OS 2009v2 is Out

Posted in News Roundup at 11:29 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

Elmer Rivera updates us on the Xubuntu lab’s use 01 (2009)

Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.

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Virtualization Makes For Strange Bedfellows

Posted in Deals, Novell, Virtualisation, VMware at 5:23 pm by Shane Coyle

Which companies haven’t made virtualization announcements this year?

Not to be left out of the coverage of the recent virtualization collaboration announcements, which seem to be all the rage these days, Novell and VMware have announced an agreement which will allow for independent software vendors to create fully supported custom virtual appliances built with Suse Linux Enterprise.

Novell also announced today a broad collaboration agreement with VMware to deliver SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) as a fully-supported and optimised guest operating system running on VMware ESX, the industry-leading hypervisor. The two companies have signed a cooperative support agreement that enables Novell to provide enhanced support for customers running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a guest on VMware ESX. In addition to Novell’s customary virtualisation-friendly subscription model, Novell is offering a limited time pricing promotion that gives an additional financial incentive to customers seeking to benefit from the companies’ collaboration.

Ala RedHat⁄Microsoft, there wasn’t any mention of any monetary or patent exchanges, nor was there any mention if Novell had to say they were sorry for trying to team up with Microsoft to "come after" VMware in an "open source way" a few years ago:

[emphasis mine]
Web services, that’s the proprietary aspects, making active directory and eDirectory work together- enterprise customers want to see that, virtualization is very very key, customers want to utilize Linux as either a host operating system with Microsoft as a guest operating system, or vice versa, and yes wea re going to support the XEN technology there, the XEN hypervisor technology, Microsoft is going to support it too. Yes, there is a competitive angle there, yes we’re coming at VMware yes yes yes we are, ok thats part of it because but we’re doing it in an open source way, so were going to support the XEN technologies in our server platforms and togther collaborate and ensure it works properly, supported properly, etc
Now as far as thats concerned, thats the technology aspects of it, now its broad from a Linux perspective, they’re essentially saying that anyone who is an OpenSUSE contributor is covered under the covenant. the covenant essentially is a patent agreement between Novell and Microsoft that says if you participate in the OpenSUSE distribution… as long as its not for commercial gain, that you are covered by this covenant, that they will not exercise what they believe is their patent rights…

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Novell Spreads More .NET in Mac OS X, Windows, Leads to Patent Trouble

Posted in Apple, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Patents, Windows at 5:18 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Novell brings its Mono development tools to proprietary platforms and ignores the TomTom-imposed warning signs.

SEVERAL days ago we stressed that Mono is intended to ratify Microsoft's .NET as a 'standard'. This was the explanation provided by one person and evidence is quite extensive. The following new article from Heise shows that Novell is bad influence not just to GNU/Linux users but also to Mac and Windows developers, whom Novell is trying to lure into .NET using its development framework, MonoDevelop.

A blog post by Mono development team member, Miguel de Icaza, has announced plans to bring a stable version of MonoDevelop to Windows. There is currently an alpha version of MonoDevelop available for Mac OS X.

Since Mono is patent trap to everyone but Novell, this is very foolish and very, very harmful. In fact, now that Microsoft is suing Linux for FAT-related patents [1, 2], it is more than clear ever before that Microsoft can use Mono to justify the same/similar action.

Patent suit tells us why we should shun Mono, Moonlight

Microsoft has shown the world exactly how friendly it is towards open source by going to court to claim damages over patents which have been allegedly violated in an implementation of the Linux kernel. And that’s a good reason why FOSS users should avoid Mono and Moonlight like the plague.

[...]

He was then asked by Mozilla engineering vice-president Mike Schroepfer whether there would be the same protection if one downloaded and then distributed the code for Moonlight

“There is a patent covenant for anyone that downloads [Moonlight] from Novell,” he answered and was then forced to admit that “as to extending the patents to third parties – you have to talk to Microsoft.”

That’s exactly what Microsoft was saying to TomTom before it sued the GPS maker on Wednesday – talk to us and sign a licensing deal. Is that what FOSS users want to do – pay royalties for using software?

[...]

Only OpenSUSE has Mono in abundance – why, Evolution, the default mail program is dependent on it and once you remove Mono, you have to bid goodbye to Evolution as well. But then there should be no surprise about this – Novell owns OpenSUSE, a project which is facing some problems right now.

Novell should really know what it’s doing. As Byfield points out, Novell knows the wrath of patents. Now, if only he didn’t just characterise us as the “anti-Novell lobby”… typo there in “Go-OOO” as well. It’s Go-OO or Go-OO[XML]. There is no “Go-OOO” but there is Go-Mono[nono], which can only hope to be The Real Thing. All of these Novell projects are strengthening Microsoft. █

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Novell CEO Loots the Company: Receives Huge Bonuses for Failed Business

Posted in Finance, GNU/Linux, Novell, OpenSUSE, Ron Hovsepian, SLES/SLED at 2:02 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Novell’s poor results are a subject that we covered last night. Talks about layoffs have begun to materialise. For example, we have:

For the quarter, Novell’s sales fell by 7 per cent to $214.9m and were hurt by a dramatic drop off in software license sales, which fell by 29.7 per cent to $28.3m. Services sales at the company fell even more dramatically, down 31.7 per cent to $27.8m, while maintenance and subscription sales helped offset declines a little by growing 5.8 per cent to $158.8m. Net income fell by 36.5 per cent, to $10.7m, and what is immediately clear is that if Microsoft had not extended its SUSE Linux coupon deal with a $100m extension last year and agreed to kick in $25m this quarter, Novell would be at a loss. Quite literally.

[...]

That’s exactly what Novell has said publicly it would do. But that is a net employee headcount change. The number of employees let go could be higher in one division or department if the company was also hiring in other divisions or departments. Novell has not said this is what has happened, but the persistent rumors of larger layoffs could be the result of such hiring and firing practices.

Ron Hovsepian, Novell’s president and chief executive officer, said that software license and services sales were both below expectations, and in a conference call with Wall Street analysts, he said that “the pipe fell apart” in the last two to three weeks of the quarter and warned that it could happen again.

[...]

Looking ahead, Hovsepian said that Novell was “investigating all opportunities to lower costs,” and that might mean more layoffs. (He did not use the L-Word).

Here is another new report.

Novell could axe jobs on falling demand

[...]

The company, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, should have a better idea of whether it needs to reduce its workforce later this quarter, Russell said today in an interview.

Wealth for the Hovsepians

An ongoing outrage right now is to do with those people who receive huge bonuses and public money even in the form of stimulus/bailout (i.e. public looting). They expect a form of socialism to rescue them from their own corruption. That only applies to managers of course — those who are managing themselves in unaccountable, private, unregulated tyrannies. They reward themselves for the utter failures which they are collectively responsible for.

Ron Hovsepian too is an example of this trend. According to this news report:

Information technology icon Novell, Inc. (NDAQ: NOVL ) fared poorly even in this economy: down more than 50% over the last 12 months. This didn’t stop CEO Ronald Hovsepian from getting compensation valued at almost $7 million for the year, with nearly $3 million of that in cash.

Who in their right minds are giving bonuses to failing/failed executives that are buying small, irrelevant companies while sacking employees (largely GNU/Linux engineers to begin with)? Here is additional information about Hovsepian’s personal gain, which has always seemed a tad suspicious, not just unfair.

We happen to have studied this and found out that Novell’s management recently embarked on luxurious vacations in Mexico just before dropping ‘the bomb’ (delivering the results). Novell is no exception in today’s tough economy, but some of its moves are outright irrational. Even its own employees are disturbed by it. For example, says one person: “Look at what Hubert Figuiere hinted at in his blog post as to Novell’s rudderless position. Acquisitions in Novell’s state and in the current climate and laying off employees? WTF?”

SUSE Down Sharply

Novell continued to deny large-scale layoffs, but as we stressed strongly, the company can't be believed. In fact, it already mentions this as a possibility (see Russell quote above). Novell’s layoffs are inevitable because its business diminishes too quickly and even SUSE — supposedly Novell’s area of great growth — is “down sharply”. ZDNet’s editor states:

Novell’s fiscal first quarter results were a mixed bag and Linux invoices fell sharply as the company failed to sign big deals.

They are dependent on Microsoft of course, by their own choice.

Matt Asay’s analysis is good (he used to work at Novell and he has friends there). The headline is alarming though.

Novell puts Linux on sale as earnings disappoint

[...]

That should be Novell’s concern, not Microsoft’s. If Microsoft feels any compunction to assist Novell, it’s certainly not to help prop up Linux, but rather to try to hurt Red Hat. This isn’t the basis for sound, long-term strategy.

And guess what? It’s not working.

[...]

That environment hasn’t been good for Novell’s overall business, but it’s helping fuel Red Hat’s. Perhaps Novell should be looking to Red Hat, not Microsoft, for clues as to how to rejuvenate its business. The industry could use Novell as a stronger Linux player. Microsoft won’t be the source of that strength.

So the big winners here are probably Novell’s rivals in the GNU/Linux universe. Those are the companies which don’t pay Microsoft for GNU/Linux and don’t market themselves using software patents and intimidation.

Here is yet another article about the end of BrainShare [1, 2, 3], which symbolises Novell’s demise.

Next month would have marked the one time in the year thousands of technology professionals make the trek to Salt Lake City to figure out whether Novell has the wherewithal to be the world’s most successful blend of open source and proprietary technology. Except that this year, for once, the global economy as a whole is actually doing worse than sales of Open Enterprise Server. There won’t be a BrainShare 2009, and who knows about next year. We’re bracing for what gets cut next.
I found BrainShare an extremely worthy event the last time I went there, but the industry, suffice it to say, will survive its loss.

More Financial News

Associated Press (via Forbes) has the report “Novell profit drops 36 pct, still beats Street” and MarketWatch published “Novell’s first-quarter net income slides to 3 cents a share” (also in Fox Business). Reuters just states that “Novell Q1 earnings fall.” Novell must tell its investors what it intends to do next. This debate is private. █

“Our partnership with Microsoft continues to expand.”

–Ron Hovsepian, Novell CEO

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European Open Source Software Workgroup a Total Scam: Hijacked and Subverted by Microsoft et al

Posted in Europe, Fraud, Free/Libre Software, FUD, GNU/Linux, Microsoft at 12:23 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Think tank on “open source” — brought to Europe by proprietary software vendors

WE presented and wrote about some preliminary evidence yesterday and now we have substantial, concrete proof [PDF].

Companies which want to harm Free software and protect their monopolies have taken over panels discussing and creating policies about their competitors. They are there to actually write the policies and explanations about open source^*. But they don’t even do open source. They are there to spread hostile misconceptions and strike out anything not favourable to themselves, just as Microsoft’s Geri Elliot did some years back (she quit Microsoft recently). Let’s not forget the OOXML corruptions and Microsoft’s attempts to ruin ODF by subverting and polluting it. Microsoft is doing the same thing to open source while mercilessly suing it.

But Microsoft is not so careless. It does not edit documents directly. It hires guns to do its work on its behalf. People like Zuck from the Microsoft pressure group ACT [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] (also related to ATL) and others from CompTIA [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] totally hijacked a workgroup dealing with Free/open source software. They are spreading lies and disinformation all over the document, which reached Wikileaks. It’s summarised as follows.

This file is an edited version of the EU OSS Strategy draft with the input of Jonathan Zuck, President of the Association for Competitive Technology, an organisation that has strong ties with Microsoft.

The file is a draft for an expert panel formed by the European Commission. This panel is divided into workgroup (IPR, Open Source, digital life, etc.) ACT and Comptia have been infiltrating every workgroup, even the one on Open Source (WG 7). They are doing the best they can to drown any initiative that would not only promote OSS in Europe but also that could help Europe create a sucessful European software sector.

The audience for this document could be journalists who would be interested in getting to know more how lobbies of all kind influence the European institutions. Here it is perhaps even more stringent as ACT is clearly an US organization with ties to Microsoft. Verifications might not be easy as this is an internal draft. The best contact might be commission personnel: Lars.PEDERSEN@ec.europa.eu ; Michel.Lacroix@ec.europa.eu

It has been leaked as it is important to have the public know how actual policy making is being influenced by lobbies that are precisely under the legal scrutiny of the European Commission. The urgency of the publication of this document is real in the sense that outside pressure would foce the Commission to “clean the committees” or at least give a lesser credit to the work of this workgroup.

To those not familiar with Jonathan Zuck, here is a gentle introduction from Source Watch.

Jonathan Zuck is President of the Association for Competitive Technology and founder of Americans for Technology Leadership. He was very active on the software patents directive, taking a position in favor of patenting software. ACT seems to be tied to corporate members like Microsoft, and Mr Zuck has been visited by Mr Gates in February 2005. ACT has also taken positions to defend Microsoft against the antitrust ruling of the Commission.

Having read the above, should this American man be trustworthy inside a panel that writes about open source software? How about one in Europe? Here we have an American lobbyist working for an American monopolist writing recommendations on “open source” in another continent. And he’s not alone because there are other cronies right there. Look at what these people are writing:

“Regarding the “Europe Digital Independence” our group thinks it is, in general, not an issue. However there may be situation where a particular piece of software plays a key role in some economic activity or may create security related concerns under certain circumstances.”

There are so many other examples. In page 6 for instance:

….while noting that the increasing use of OSS within mainstream commercial offerings and mixed-source software and solutions makes a distinct treatment of or preferences for OSS more difficult to define.

They are trying to blur the gap and pretend that open source does not truly exist. Further down it says:

OSS as part of mixed solutions blending open and proprietary code.

In page 7 they pretend it’s just a complement to non-Free software.

…technologically viable alternative or complement to dominant proprietary products and services in some areas.

As the comment points out:

COMMENT: a) Free Software was never “hobbyist” or “garage” in origin. Its concepts are derived from science, and scientific progress and innovation through allowing co-innovation by all participants. I believe the true roots of Free Software are important, and a strength, so should be mentioned. b) It is important to avoid the false antonym “commercial” vs Free Software, because it falsely implies that the interest of the software industry in Free Software is not commercially motivated. The rephrasing also explicitly counteracts that misunderstanding by emphasising commercial Free Software.

in page 8, in large fonts it says:

Open Source Software cannot be 100 % free

Also:

COMMENT: Too strongly anti-American sentiments are most likely not helpful, so tried to rephrase to keep the notion of the problem intact, but rephrase it in a more diplomatic way.

In page 9:

Indeed, much of this business is generated by players who have mixed source business models, indicating how success for this ecosystem depends on a pragmatic approach towards both OSS and proprietary software.

[..]

MS comment: NESSI figures, full reference needed. Is this consistent with CompTIA’s claim: “an estimated €1.2 billion has been invested by European firms in open source software development” ??
FSFE comment: This number indeed seems high. It is probably true for large corporations, but may neglect the impact of SMEs?

For full realisation of what is happening there, the PDF needs to be seen with the colours included. It’s hysterical. It’s a sham.

In page 10, they strike out the entire truth. They don’t want anything that emphasises the advantages of free/open source software to be seen. They essentially sabotage the document and promote “Growth of the mixed model” (hey, who needs freedom anyway, right?).

The economic success of firms based on mixed model, however, suggests it is a promising model for the future.

[...]

3.1.6. The “mixed model” is also true for OSS users OSS users are companies, administrations, public institutions, schools and universities, SOHO enterprises, end users : they usually have to integrate and use different software components to meet their needs, proprietary or open source.”

In page 15 it states:

Open Source will never be THE solution which will modify the whole economy and the IT world. Open Source is not magic. The solution will come from an intelligent cohabitation and mix of proprietary and open source components. Then, it raises issues for users, services providers and industries.

It’s just like watching Microsoft moderating and watering down a document which states the obvious.

American lobbyists for Microsoft writing about “Europe Digital Independence”?Page 19 is about RAND and patents, which involve directly CompTIA. That lobbying arm suppresses such debate in the panel and even Erwin Tenhumberg, now a SAP employee, is peddling their party line. It might be useful to properly annotate the document to get all the contributions from each participant (also have them distinctly visible).

American lobbyists for Microsoft writing about “Europe Digital Independence”? What on Earth is that???

There is so much more in there that hasn’t been touched on yet, though it’s really outrageous. Those who are ruining this document should really barred from accessing Europe, not just prevented access to panels which discuss their direct opponents’ policies. These lobbyists tend to act as colonialists who cause damage by "schmoozing" European politicians (face to face) whenever they get the chance. What exactly needed to be done there in order to invade the panel?

Glyn Moody (in 2007) and Bruce Perens (in 2008) were both correct when they suggested that Microsoft would wave some “open source” flag just so that it can harm it from within, especially in Europe. Microsoft's evangelism notes may give insight into this strategy as Microsoft pretends to be “open source” so as to redefine and sabotage it from the inside. Thanks to Wikileaks, people can see it better for themselves — or better yet — start protesting about this scam which is the “European Open Source Software Workgroup.” It’s chaotic, it needs to be amended, and failing corrective intervention it must be shunned or ignored. █
____
^* All for personal gain that directly harms those which the report is about.

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Microsoft Shamelessly Lies About Windows Security (Yet Again)

Posted in Deception, Microsoft, Security, Windows at 9:56 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

JUST OVER a week ago, Microsoft went to great lengths to blame other parties for its own recklessness. It didn’t want people to know that security problems were its own fault; it wanted to be left alone because many critics said the truth which was not good for business. Microsoft is quietly pulling some similar stunts at the moment. It fixes a serious design issue which had NASA spaceships and even US army bases [1, 2, 3] become victims of Windows viruses and sometimes zombie chaos.

Microsoft is arrogantly pretending that the fix is not a security fix. The Register explains this paradox, on which it begs to differ.

Microsoft aims ‘non-security’ update at gaping security hole

[...]

We’re not sure about that. What we do know is that if this update is the difference between Autorun being enabled or disabled, it will make users infinitely safer, and that can only be a good thing.

Microsoft is known for its censorship of journalists who say the truth about Windows vulnerabilities — issues that UNIX/Linux are inherently immune to.

In other security news from this week:

i. Experts sound scam threat warning

Hackers are tricking people with a false warning, saying that the computer is infected with a Trojan and getting users to buy a fake anti-virus product.

ii. Hacking Jack Straw

According to the Telegraph Jack Straw has confirmed that he “started getting phone calls from various constituents asking if I was really in Nigeria needing 3,000 dollars.”

iii. Spammers Play to Recession Fears, Emotions

“At a time when concerned consumers may not be surprised to hear from their banks, phishing attacks have risen to one in 190.4 e-mails, from one in 396.2 in January 2009,” the report states.

iv. Fraud linked to US payment processor breach

The breach was significant but affected fewer records than were involved in the recent breach of Heartland Payment Systems, another US-based e-commerce payment processing firm. Heartland said that hackers planted malware on its systems, but didn’t say how many records were disclosed as a result.

It’s important never to forget where SPAM comes from: Windows zombies. A lot of scams (and malware) are enabled by mass mailing from computers that are not under the control of their owner. █

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Microsoft Cuts by Another 10%… of Wages

Posted in Finance, Microsoft at 8:48 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Cringely believes that half of Microsoft’s staff should be considered redundant [1, 2] and analysts insisted that Microsoft’s layoffs targeting over 5,000 employees were not sufficient because Microsoft is in deep financial trouble. Ever since then, Microsoft has cut its spendings on contractors by almost 15% and more layoffs have affected a large Microsoft subsidiary as well. Now it gets grimmer for temporary workers, some of whom are potentially foreign [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

Microsoft slashes rates for temp workers, blaming bad economy

[...]

Microsoft, citing the “realities of a deteriorating economy,” will reduce by 10 percent the amount it pays employment agencies for many of its temporary workers — and cut by 15 percent the target billing rate for future temporary work.

The above news comes from Seattle, which is biased in Microsoft’s favour. There are more such reports from Seattle.

It’s no surprise that Microsoft vice presidents quit in droves just before the announcement of layoffs last month [1, 2]. They knew very well what was coming because they held top positions. There was plenty for them to be worried about. █

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