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| TechrightsBot | Hello World! | Feb 07 03:07 |
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| TechrightsBot | Title: Main Page - Techrights .::. Size~: 38.57 KB | Feb 07 03:07 |
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| schestowitz | Still seeing if it's worth doing an eBook on Novell. Big IRC paste (anonymised): | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > A year and a half ago we talked about writing a book. Back then I was | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > tied to some things, but now we're at a crucial moment. It's about Novell | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > Novell as a company is now dead and there ought to be literature | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > documenting what happened. I am getting loads of visitors this year | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > (tens of thousands uniques per month) and you, a dear friend, once | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > contacted me to suggest working on a book. I think it will be a good way | Feb 07 12:10 |
| schestowitz | > to turn the work (accumulated over the years) into something that's more | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > sustainable -- long-term -- and maybe widely recognised too. | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > .................................... | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > Yes, I remember discussing it with you. So much has happened to Novell | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > since then, it's developed into quite a story, hasn't it? | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > From what perspective would you write the story? Would you just | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > organize and present historical events of the company? Or write a more | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > personal account of your experiences with running the BN/Techrights | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > website while the events surrounding Novell unfolded? | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > Maybe both? At the beginning or end of each chapter you could include a | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > few paragraphs outlining your own thoughts and experiences. Maybe | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > explaining the impact of events in each chapter had on the tech | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > world...and on the people who covered the news. | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > I think that's the reason Novell's story is so interesting and | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > important, it seems to have so many facets and such far-reaching | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > consequences. | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > Anyway, I had to smile when you called my little business a Publishing | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > House. That sounds rather grand! | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > The majority of my contracts/clients are publishers, mostly I provide | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > art, cover design, ad layout, and illustration services to them (mostly | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > for educational, and business publications). Nearly everything I do is | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > for print. Though that may be changing soon, as I've been asked to work | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > on materials for e-books. | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > I do have a sideline business in partnership with an author of | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > children's medical books, and those books we publish ourselves. Our | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > books are funded by pediatric hospitals, and (occasionally) insurance | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > companies. The books are given (for free) to pediatric patients in | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > emergency rooms. We also publish a couple of small books about pet care | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > (for kids) which are funded and distributed by veterinarians and | Feb 07 12:11 |
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| schestowitz | > animal-rescue organizations. | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > So, I'm not exactly Random House, or Simon/Schuster. I'm just a small | Feb 07 12:11 |
| schestowitz | > business owner, with a home studio, that works very hard every day to | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > keep the work coming in. I've been doing this type of work since the | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > late 1960s, though I didn't work at it full-time until the late 1970s. | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > These days, I do have some part-time helpers for large projects, but I'm | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > generally my main employee. (It gives me job security, 'cuz my boss | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > can't fire me) :) | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > Now, people keep telling me that the market for printed materials is | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > destined to die out, and that's certainly happening, but the work is | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > still there for me. I actually don't mind if traditional printing dies | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > out, since I'll be retiring next year. | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > The problem I see with e-books is the file formats. The people I spoke | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > with last month, that want me to redesign and reformat some existing | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > print books as ebooks, want their books available in various formats for | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > different book readers (Kindles, Nooks, and iPads, oh my). So I started | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > researching it, and I can see some problems with it all. They somehow | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > believe having some sort of DRM restrictions is a good idea (sigh). So, | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > as much as I like having work, if I can't convince them to avoid the | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > pointless lock-in schemes I probably won't take the contract. | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > I've been through tooooo many format wars over the years to ever want to | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > get involved with such things again. (oh, the stories I could tell!) | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > Anyway, back to your book. I'm assuming you'd want it to be set up in an | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > open format for book readers, but (maybe?) also make it available for | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > print on Lulu? I'd be happy to help in whatever ways I can, as far as | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > layout and design. And as a proof-reading/editing helper | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > But I'm not a good choice for co-author. | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > The hardest part, I think, will be whittling down (and organizing) the | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > mountains of information you've collected about Novell into a reasonable | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > book size. | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > Where would you start the book? For instance, would you begin with the | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > SCO law suit, or with the Microsoft patent deal (and the subsequent | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > beginning of the Boycott Novell website)? It would be hard not to at | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > least touch on the SCO craziness, and Microsoft, with their | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > behind-the-scenes manipulations throughout. | Feb 07 12:12 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 12:13 |
| schestowitz | > ...and, it seems I've practically written a book with this email. Sorry, | Feb 07 12:13 |
| schestowitz | > guess I better send it before it turns into War & Peace. :D | Feb 07 12:13 |
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| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/villagetelco/status/34581886265196544 | Feb 07 12:14 |
| TechrightsBot | @villagetelco: RT @schestowitz: ♺ @harishpillay Village Telco in Dili, Timor Leste - what an inspiration and success of FOSS all over! http://ur1.ca/352a8 | Feb 07 12:14 |
| TechrightsBot | -> Title: The Dili Village Telco - linuxconfau - blip.tv .::. Size~: 41.21 KB | Feb 07 12:14 |
| schestowitz | https://identi.ca/notice/63887013https://identi.ca/notice/63887013 | Feb 07 12:21 |
| schestowitz | https://identi.ca/notice/63887013 | Feb 07 12:21 |
| TechrightsBot | Not a dent? | Feb 07 12:21 |
| TechrightsBot | @Dr. Roy Schestowitz (schestowitz)'s status on Monday, 07-Feb-11 09:22:38 UTC - Identi.ca: @fcassia at least with casino nobody except the business owner is expected to win. In FraudStrt, those with inside information loot the rest | Feb 07 12:21 |
| schestowitz | It has been a month or more since I last thought about how to write a book on the subject and what to include in such a book. Since then, the CPTN challenge/affair has come under fire and more details generally revealed which lead me to suspecting that the Novell saga is far from over and thus a case of "wait and watch" for now (Novell demise would be premature to announce). I'm keeping all these notes in case it's turned into an | Feb 07 12:29 |
| schestowitz | eBook or something; oh, and appreciate all the help! Groklaw does something similar IIRC (PJ planning to use her expertise for grand writing as a life project or something). | Feb 07 12:29 |
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| schestowitz | > ":-) It has been a month or more since I last thought about how to write | Feb 07 18:02 |
| schestowitz | > a book on the subject and what to include in such a book. Since then, | Feb 07 18:02 |
| schestowitz | > the CPTN challenge/affair has come under fire and more details generally | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > revealed which lead me to suspecting that the Novell saga is far from | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > over and thus a case of "wait and watch" for now (Novell demise would be | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > premature to announce). I'mkeeping all these notes in case it's turned | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > into an eBook or something; oh, and appreciate all the help! Groklaw | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > does something similar IIRC (PJ planning to use her expertise for grand | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > writing as a life project or something)." | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | I just think I once read about her making such preparations, at least in hindsight. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > Yes, I agree. To publish a book about the end of Novell, before they're | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > actually gone, wouldn't be worthwhile. But, even if you plan to do it | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > later, now is the time to start preparing. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | Preparation is a bit hard without knowing the eventual outcome. I'm glad you're eager to advise/help. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > Pj's book will likely be more about Groklaw, the SCO mess, and all the | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > related court cases. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | If anyone still care about SCO... once they fade the interest wanes. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > Yours would be from a completely different perspective, and likely more | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > focused on the events surrounding Novell and the Microsoft patent deal | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > (and the beginnings of Boycott Novell), as well as the rise (and fall, | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > we hope) of Mono and Moonlight. Maybe even touching on the subsequent | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > troubles for OpenSuse...which is definitely a story that's not over, yet | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > (I hope they break free and manage to stay afloat!). | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | Indeed. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > The end of the saga may still be a long way off, but the beginnings are | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > already well documented. So, for now, you could start outlining | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > chapters and deciding on the viewpoint you want to write from. And, most | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > importantly, who your book will be written for. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | I think it can be used as a compressed summary of the site's Boycott Novell project. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > The thing is, the plain facts and time-lines are already available for | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > people to find. BN and Techrights have documented everything from almost | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > day one. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | Indeed. But I missed a lot of the history. Well, I started at age 23, so... | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > But (and this may just be my opinion), the most important story hasn't | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > really been told yet, which is how these events have actually affected | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > the world (and you!). For instance, have the attempts to ruin FOSS been | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > successful? Or has it made the Community stronger - the opposite effect | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > from what was intended? | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | Good point. | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > If the FOSS Community is now stronger (which I believe it is), outlining | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > those strengths would be an excellent, and very positive thing to | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | > highlight. For example, how has all of this benefited the wider world? | Feb 07 18:03 |
| schestowitz | I think that may require separate books on freedom in general. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > Novell's sad story could be an outstanding example of what happens to | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > corporations who turn their backs on the very people who could help them. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > And how has all of this changed *your* life? Have you had experiences, | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > or met new friends that you might never have known, if you hadn't taken | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > up the reins of BN? Has your efforts to maintain BN (and then | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > Techrights) influenced others to join in and to learn more? I believe it | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > has. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | Impersonal books may be better. I don't wish to be part of stories that actually affect many people. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > I think you have a very interesting story to tell, and the fact that you | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > never gave up is a good example to people who may be new to the idea of | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > Free Software. When new users of Linux are made fun of (and, believe | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > me, they are), it's good for them to know what's behind it, and not to | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > give up. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | I know what you mean. But the indoctrination in an age of consumerism leads to it. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > Which brings us back to who your target audience might be. Do you want | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > to use your story to encourage more people to get involved? Which would | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > mean writing for those who aren't yet familiar with the Novell story. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | Yes, something like that... | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > Or do you want to keep it impersonal and just layout the history of | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > Novell's long slide into oblivion? Which would be aimed more towards | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > encapsulating it all for those who already understand the issues. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | In any case, the site may always contain more background information. Books cannot handle hyperlinks. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > To me, the pivot point was the bad choices Novell's managment made at a | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > very crucial time. When Microsoft realized that SCO was a liability, | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > patents were their next best attack, and Novell fell right into their | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > hands. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | Yes, this connects Groklaw and BN/TR too. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > In the end, I believe the Microsoft sloggers will hold Novell up to the | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > world as an example of how Free Software isn't business-friendly. It'll | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > be "proof" (they'll say) that Freedom isn't a good business model. When | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > the truth is that it was Novell's very choices to partner with Microsoft | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > (anti-Freedom) that ruined them. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | +1. | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > If the world cannot put those events in perspective, it will happen to | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > more companies, and I can see that Canonical is next in the sights of | Feb 07 18:04 |
| schestowitz | > the sloggers. Red Hat and Google too, but Canonical is the low-hanging | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > fruit now, since Novell and Sun have been squashed. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | Yes, exactly! Jono Bacon is at least hanging out with us and learns a bit. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > And speaking of slogging and Microsoft spin...after the Google | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > accusations about Bing cheating, and after the ghost data problem on the | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > Win7 phone, as well as the lack of sales, and all the Patch-Tuesday | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > news...oh yes, and the Quarterly Reports news... | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | Yes, I think they fake it. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > It seems that Bill (Senior Slogger in Chief) felt the need to do some | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > damage control. The Slashdot headline regarding Bill's talk about | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > vaccinations (and the B&G Foundations vaccination goals), came at the | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > perfect time to help defuse all the bad Microsoft news. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | You've put it so correctly. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > It seems that whatever damage Steve causes, Bill just has to fire up the | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > PR machine and swoop down like the Pope waving his saintly halo, and | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > proclaim His Goodness throughout the land. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | That's why I must also write about this plutocrat. There are others like him, though. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > Since most people in the world still connect Bill Gates with Microsoft, | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > they couldn't possibly dislike a guy who gives his billions away just to | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > keep children healthy. Therefore, continuing to buy Microsoft's | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > products will help Bill to support children's health. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | Yes, sentimental blackmail. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > It just seemed to me that the timing was interesting. The "good works" | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > by the Foundation (children's health, etc) obviously trumps any sleazy | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > behavior by the company. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | I was encouraged not to target Gates for this reason. But someone needs to do it... | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > You've likely already noticed this, but the waning power of Microsoft | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > seems to be equal to the growing power of B&M Gates Foundation (and its | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > investment arm). In the end, it will be much harder to undermine the | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > Foundation than it's been to undermine Microsoft. People tend to be | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > less sympathetic to a giant corporation, when it comes to bad behavior. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > But pointing out bad behavior of a saintly foundation that "helps" | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > children will be viewed as baseless criticism. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | Yes, Bill's dad (and his firm) is involved too. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > Interesting times we're in. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | Yes, crucial. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > Ok, I better stop before this gets too long (I know, too late for | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > that...lol). | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | I enjoyed it. | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > Keep in touch, please (I promise not to keep writing long emails, it's | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | > just that I haven't gotten to talk to you in such a long time.) | Feb 07 18:05 |
| schestowitz | That's not a problem. | Feb 07 18:06 |
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