10.15.07
Gemini version available ♊︎Novell, Patents, and Unrest (Updated)
Unrest in Novelland?
Watch how Novell’s staff is trying to calm people down in the SUSE mailing lists after the question “Good or Bad of SuSE Novell Takeover” had been raised.
[opensuse] Good or Bad of SuSE Novell Takeover – Was: Re: subpixel hinting…”
* From: Stefan Hundhammer [ sh@xxxxxxx ]
* Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 11:49:38 +0200
* Message-id: [ 200710091149.39173.sh@xxxxxxx ]On Monday 08 October 2007 18:26, Jan Engelhardt wrote:
> >We could get away doing that kind of thing back in the days when we were
> > that small German company SuSE. But now that SUSE is owned 100% by
> > Novell, that just won’t work any more.
We mentioned sub-pixel hinting before, but the source we relied on was not accurate. It does, however, make you wonder. Is it becoming more of a reality each day now that Novell boasts a Technology Assurance Program and even blogs to brag about Microsoft ‘protection’.
Novell rolled out the new Novell Technology Assurance Program this week…
Shane’s comments (and responses) have eventually appeared, so you can see that by following the link above.
Meanwhile we are also hearing about the not-so-reassuring staffing adjustments at Novell. AppArmor was apparently just the tip of the iceberg and a sign of things to come.
A former Novell worker who still has ties with the company told the Daily Herald he had heard as many as 600 jobs could be eliminated or moved overseas to lower labor-cost countries including India, where Novell has a software development center.
They might be referring to Matt Asay, who blogged it a few days after we had. If things go as awry as projected, then managers will hopefully get reprimanded for their tactless moves, which included a horrible deal with Microsoft — a deal that spurred a lot of trouble that not only affects Novell, but also other companies that surround it.
Update: Others seem to be upset and they direct their criticism at the management too.
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James Maybach said,
October 16, 2007 at 12:31 am
Have you even read that article?
—
But being owned by a tech company that is interested in the technology you
make, a company that has great visions about that technology, a company that
values the people having the know-how — all that beats the hell out of being
owned by a bunch of investment banks that just want to make a quick buck and
then good riddance (and firing ~40% of all people in the process while
setting up their own top managers who made quite some money).
[...]
Folks, please get just a little bit more informed before you start bashing
Novell. The old SuSE people don’t do it, and there are reasons for that.
Roy Schestowitz said,
October 16, 2007 at 5:45 am
James, the one that I cited is among the replies. I do mind where these opinions come from. If a Novell employee defends the acquisition, where’s the surprise? I used to be active on that mailing list too, but it all changed 2 weeks after the deal with Microsoft (took time to digest the impact of it).
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse/2007-10/msg00953.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse/2007-10/msg00949.html