04.02.07

Gemini version available ♊︎

Nat Friedman Defends Pact with Novell’s #1 Rival (Updated)

Posted in Interview, Novell, OpenSUSE, SLES/SLED at 12:59 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Novell makes enemies, but then denies their existence or importance. Derstandar.at, a Web site which recently did an interview with Miguel de Icaza (further analysed in our Web site), has an new interview with Nat Friedman, whom we sometimes refer to as Novell’s second Microsoft apologist. The interview touches on many technical things, but it also discusses the backlash. Below lies a small fragment.

derStandard.at: Given the strong negative reactions lot’s of people in the community showed to the Microsoft deal, do you think it’ll get more difficult for Novell to get their stuff upstream?

Nat Friedman: I haven’t seen that until now, I mean there have always been flamewars in the Linux community, it’s part of the community culture. Sure there are consequences for Novell in the community resulting from the deal, we have seen that, but not in the respect that someone says “Well, Novell as a business did this agreement with Microsoft, so we won’t accept their patches”. And most of that negative sentiments don’t seem to come from the people who accept patches anyway, they come from people who have a sort of “professional commentator” role in the community.

It is easy to disregard critics and dismiss all the backlash. It is truly a convenient excuse. The only thing louder than words, however, is the effect on one’s wallet. When/if Novell’s sales sink, perhaps then the company will realise that its new strategy has not worked. In fact, it has also hurt other Linux companies, which Novell ought to have befriended, rather than provoke anger.

It is worth repeating the fact that Novell is dealing with a rival which has viciously attacked it for over a decade, sometimes through FUD and often through technical sabotage. It continues to this date. What would Ray Noorda, who passed away last year, say if he were still among us? The reality is shocking. Novell invites a fierce and aggressive rival to its own conference and the relationship is not reciprocal. From the thousands of court exhibits, for example, one would find E-mails such as this one [PDF], illustrating what the plaintiff described as “technical sabotage” and “hidden APIs”:

From: Denns Foster [of Novell]
To: Dave Wilkes; John Galley; John Robertson
Date: Tue, Jun 9, 1998 3:46 PM
Subject: GroupWise vs. Outlook 98

On 05-21-98, I called our Microsoft Premiere Support number to request help with the conflict between GW and Outlook 98. I spoke to Barbara Thomas who generated case SRX9805216011611.

My initial request was that MS consider it a bug that Outlook 98 by default installs using the “Internet Only” option for e-mail services. I told her that it was our opinion that the Outlook 98’s setup program should inspect the system it’s being installed on and choose the “Corporate or Workgroup E-mail” option by default if the Windows Messaging System (WMS i.e., MAPI) was installed and profiles have been defined and choose the “lnternet Only” option by default otherwise. This would probably eliminate 90% of the complaints we get as I’m sure most people when reading the screen containing these options don’t realize what’s being said and simply go with the default as being “safe”.

On 05-28-98 I received a call and e-mail from Barbara telling me that my request had been investigated and Adam (I don’t recall having heard his last name) from Microsoft would be contacting me. On either the 28th or 29th, I got a call from Adam. He told me that MS views the way Outlook 98 was operating as a “Feature”, not a bug. They would take my request and submit it as an “Enhancement” for future development. I discussed/argued the issue with Adam for several minutes, explaining how by defaulting to “lnternet Only”, Outlook 98 ends up breaking a GroupWise installation that had up to the point Outlook 98 was installed, worked fine. I explained to him that the setup screen made no mention of MAPI services being changed and/or broken for applications that need them. His response was that the user is given an ample description of what was going to happen and that we should “educate” our users to make the correct selection during Outlook 98’s setup. All in all, I’d describe my conversation with Adam as equivalent to talking to a rock.

I believe that the changes I made to the address book’s initialization flow last week is probably the best that we can hope for without Outlook 98 changing. We may want to add something to our README about this. The check/change I put into Surge for Outlook 98 could easily be retrofitted into a Jolt CPR build as well, assuming we don’t mind the resource the changes.

FYI: Before I made the changes mentioned above, when installing Outlook 98 using the “lnternet Only” default option, the following problems were encountered:

- No Novell address book service providers are available;

- There is no way to add them to your profile (the old MAPI profile dialog has been replaced by something Outlook 98 specific).

- Sometimes (usually?), our call tologin to MAPl fails (I don’t fully understand why this happens).

- When we can login. Outlook 98’s LDAP service provider causes us grief because of its problems implementing the MAPI APIs we use. The problems here include:

Calls to IMAPlTable::Restrict GPF when passed NULL for the restriction. This is the only documented way in MAPI to delete a restriction.

The way we use MAPI for LDAP services for Boldon James and Nexor doesn’t work with the Outlook 98 provider. I’ve found two areas that we could/should change that should be compatible with the Boldon James and/or Nexor providers.

Dennis.

There are some better examples, but this requires a lot of digging. The amount of material is overwhelming and it’s all there so that Novell, as well as others, can take a lesson from history.

Update: here is another exhibit, transcribed by ‘Doug Mentohl’.

From: John Gailey [of Novell]
To: Michael Buck; Rex Olpin
Date: Wed, Jun 10, 1989 2:20 PM
Subject: Win98 and Microsoft MAPI Service

In a clean install of Win98 (not over an existing Win95 installation), the Microsoft Windows Messaging System (MAPI) is not installed. Groupwise 5.2 will auto-detect this fact during install and will attempt to install the MAPI system by accessing the Win95 CD. However, the MAPI system has been moved to a different location on the Win98 CD, causing the GroupWise 5.2 install to fail in its attemt to install MAPI.

End-users can manually install the MAPI system from the Win98 CD. To do so, they must run: \tools\oldwin95\messages\us\wms.exe

This self extracting executable will install the MAPI subsystem (and unfortunatly, will also install MS exchange Inbox and MS Exchange Post Office.)

Rex, we need a TID written up for this for our current GroupWise 5.2 customers.

Michael, we need a fix for this for the next GroupWise 5.2 service pack.

this is anti-competitive

Aaarghh!!!

- John Galley
CC: Bill Street; Craig Miller

From a different angle and a different problem, here is another exhibit [PDF].

From: Gary Hein [of Novell]
Date: Sat, May 30, 1998 3:34 PM
Subject.” Fwd: ND$ for NT / LDS Church

Don’t know if you guys have seen this document yet, but it’s just another example of lies propagated by MS. There are some very disturbing remarks, including:

Although it is possible to establish bi-directional trust, the trust connection can not be used for administering remote, unmigrated domains. This means that centralizing management with NDS for NT requires a wholesale conversion of the entire enterprise

GH: False

Note that NT servers would need to run IPX/SPX to support NDS for NT as well as TCP/IP to access other network resources and to comply with current standards.

GH: False – NDS for NT works over IP – no need to add IPX. This is a scare tactic.

Service Pack updates are questionable at best. MCS has not yet released Service Pack 4.0, however we suspect it will replace the existing samsvr.dll. To protect against NT Service Packs replacing samsrv.dll, NDS for NT checks at shutdown time and replaces samsrv.dll with the Novell version. MCS believes potential for failure is very high, as soon as any rill starts depending on new exports from samsrv.dll. Replacing this one critical dll could case the system to fail to boot and recovery could be very difficult.

GH: Perhaps advance knowledge of SP4?

Microsoft has repeatedly stated that it will support their NT customers and NT’s basic functionality, but in areas that NDS touches, namely security and authentication, Microsoft will refer customers to Novell. This has the potential of creating some confusion in the resolution of issues revolving around security and authentication.

GH: Scare tactic

Also, comments from PeopleSoft should be solicited to see if PeopleSoft and Tuxedo are supported in environments where NDS for NT is in use as well as the IntranetWare client.

GH: Is it possible that MS is telling NT developer that they should not support their products with NDS for NT?

Windows NT has a feature where anonymous Iogon users can list domain user names and enumerate share names. Customers who wanted enhanced security requested the ability to optionally restrict this functionality. Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 and a hotfix for Windows NT 3.51 provide a mechanism for administrators to restrict the ability for anonymous logon users from obtaining system information. These anonymous connections are also known as NULL session connections. During the installation of Novell’s NDS for NT, the samsrv.dll is replaced. Novell NDS for NT currently does not include support for restricting anonymous connections. MC£ see this deficiency as a security weakness.

GH: This is the Red Button attack, which MS ’claims’ is fixed with SP3, but really isn’t. Again, this is completely incorrect – using NDS for NT will not impact the security flaw mentioned in this document.

Anyhow – I don’t know if this is of any use to you but I thought I’d forward it over anyway. Thanks,

Gary

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Mobile OS Market Share (as Judged by Web Access) More Than Double All Versions of Windows Combined

    With the share of Windows falling (the latest propaganda/talking point from Microsofters singles out Vista 11 to claim “growth”) it might not be long before Android and iOS alone have 3 times more in market share than Windows; Microsoft-sponsored media almost never points this out, nor does it mention that Bing fell below 3% globally (Bing also has many LAYOFFS), instead focusing on some “Bing” chatbot whose market share is negligible… and rapidly falling as people lose interest



  2. Links 02/04/2023: GNUnet 0.19.4 and Pine64/RISC-V SoC

    Links for the day



  3. Geminispace: Still Growing, Still Community-Controlled

    Almost 2.4k live (online) capsules are observed by Lupa right now (there are more, but Lupa cannot see them all), with just 31 more to go before this 2,400 milestone



  4. Microsoft Layoffs in the Buzzwords Department

    Microsoft hired or acquired (acquisition-based hiring, which enables faking growth, faking wealth when no actual money changes hands, and sometimes debt-loading) a lot of “trash” and “hype”; now it pays the price



  5. Links 01/04/2023: Bloomberg Places Stake in Free Software, Microsoft Banned and Slammed for Antitrust Abuses

    Good news



  6. Links 01/04/2023: Red Hat Turning 30

    Links for the day



  7. Links 31/03/2023: Mozilla Turns 25 and OpenMandriva 23.03

    Links for the day



  8. IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 31, 2023

    IRC logs for Friday, March 31, 2023



  9. Linus Tech (Illiteracy) Tips, LTT, Buys Phoronix Media

    Phoronix Media is being acquired by a larger company; the site will not change though



  10. Decided to Quit Debian and Use WSL Instead (Best of Both Worlds)

    Today starts a journey to a “better” experience, which lets Microsoft audit the kernel and leverage telemetry to improve my Debian experience



  11. Microsoft Has Laid Off Lennart Poettering and Hired Elon Musk

    Poettering gets rehired by IBM; IBM and Microsoft announce merger, putting Poettering back into his former position



  12. Links 31/03/2023: Ruby 3.2.2 and Linux Lite 6.4

    Links for the day



  13. Links 31/03/2023: Devices and Games, Mostly Leftovers

    Links for the day



  14. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 30, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, March 30, 2023



  15. Links 31/03/2023: Ubuntu 23.04 Beta, Donald Trump Indicted, and Finland’s NATO Bid Progresses

    Links for the day



  16. Translating the Lies of António Campinos (EPO)

    António Campinos has read a lousy script full of holes and some of the more notorious EPO talking points; we respond below



  17. [Meme] Too Many Fake European Patents? So Start Fake European Courts for Patents.

    António Campinos, who sent EPO money to Belarus, insists that the EPO is doing well; nothing could be further from the truth and EPO corruption is actively threatening the EU (or its legitimacy)



  18. Thomas Magenheim-Hörmann in RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland About Declining Quality and Declining Validity of European Patents (for EPO and Illegal Kangaroo Courts)

    Companies are not celebrating the “production line” culture fostered by EPO management, which is neither qualified for the job nor wants to adhere to the law (it's intentionally inflating a bubble)



  19. Links 30/03/2023: HowTos and Political News

    Links for the day



  20. Links 30/03/2023: LibreOffice 7.5.2 and Linux 6.2.9

    Links for the day



  21. Links 30/03/2023: WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy” and OpenMandriva ROME 23.03

    Links for the day



  22. Sirius is Britain’s Most Respected and Best Established Open Source Business, According to Sirius Itself, So Why Defraud the Staff?

    Following today's part about the crimes of Sirius ‘Open Source’ another video seemed to be well overdue (those installments used to be daily); the video above explains to relevance to Techrights and how workers feel about being cheated by a company that presents itself as “Open Source” even to some of the highest and most prestigious public institutions in the UK



  23. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 29, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, March 29, 2023



  24. [Meme] Waiting for Standard Life to Deal With Pension Fraud

    The crimes of Sirius ‘Open Source’ were concealed with the authoritative name of Standard Life, combined with official papers from Standard Life itself; why does Standard Life drag its heels when questioned about this matter since the start of this year?



  25. Former Staff of Sirius Open Source Responds to Revelations About the Company's Crimes

    Crimes committed by the company that I left months ago are coming to light; today we share some reactions from other former staff (without naming anybody)



  26. Among Users in the World's Largest Population, Microsoft is the 1%

    A sobering look at India shows that Microsoft lost control of the country (Windows slipped to 16% market share while GNU/Linux grew a lot; Bing is minuscule; Edge fell to 1.01% and now approaches “decimal point” territories)



  27. In One City Alone Microsoft Fired Almost 3,000 Workers This Year (We're Still in March)

    You can tell a company isn’t doing well when amid mass layoffs it pays endless money to the media — not to actual workers — in order for this media to go crazy over buzzwords, chaffbots, and other vapourware (as if the company is a market leader and has a future for shareholders to look forward to, even if claims are exaggerated and there’s no business model)



  28. Links 29/03/2023: InfluxDB FDW 2.0.0 and Erosion of Human Rights

    Links for the day



  29. Links 29/03/2023: Parted 3.5.28 and Blender 3.5

    Links for the day



  30. Links 29/03/2023: New Finnix and EasyOS Kirkstone 5.2

    Links for the day


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts