10.25.08

IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: October 25th, 2008

Posted in IRC Logs at 7:50 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

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A Hand That Feeds SCO… Intel

Posted in Finance, GNU/Linux, Hardware, Kernel, SCO at 5:22 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

SCO

As usual, this portion of the Saturday posts will be closed off with SCO, whose court battles with Novell continue. More interesting was actually this post about SCO’s funding prospects which, although not bright, presently may involve a bit of Intel.

Oh, one last detail. Guess who is listed as a sponsor [of SCO event]? Intel.

Yup. Look on page 5. I puzzled over that for a while. I think I have it figured out. The Intel board probably figured the FOSS community didn’t hate them enough yet for undermining OLPC.

This should do it, though. Touchdown. Way to go, guys. Way to go.

Despite deliberate destruction of OLPC and funding in SCO, Intel wants wants the world to perceive it as a GNU/Linux friend. In an age of mobility, Intel is also very scared of ARM and Apple, so earlier this week it threw some FUD at them both, later expressing regret about comments that its people had made publicly. Intel also threw some unsubstantiated FUD at NVIdia a month or two ago, only to be slammed in return (not to mention what Intel has done to AMD over the years).

Here is the slightly older post about potentially heavier investments, which SCO seemed to be harping about in spite of the York ship that had left and Stephen Norris who had seemingly lost interest.

Some of you will recall that Jeff Hunsaker said this would be perhaps one of the most significant SCOforums in history, and the earlier press release used a quotation from Stephen Norris in which Norris used the royal “we” regarding SCO, the company:

“It is important for SCO customers to understand that we are committed to provide them with world-class products and services,” said Steve Norris, Chairman of Stephen Norris Capital Partners. “SCO Tec Forum is an important opportunity for my team to get to know SCO’s customers and partners better. We have been impressed with the loyalty and commitment we have seen from SCO’s customers and partners during our due diligence, and we will reciprocate,” said Norris.

So one can’t help but wonder if there will be any news on that front. Anybody there from Stephen Norris Capital Partners? I’m sure you share my curiosity about any results from on the Middle East money-hunting safaris Darl told the bankruptcy court about last month. What? You doubt? The judge believed him. What’s wrong with you? My stars, what a bunch of cynics!

We previously wrote about Norris in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. The old stories need not be repeated, hopefully. Check out this new SCO cartoon. █

“Every time you use Google, you’re using a machine running the Linux kernel.”

–Chris DiBona

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Do-No-Evil Saturday – Part III: Novell Products with Focus on Governance

Posted in Mail, Microsoft, NetWare, Novell, Red Hat, Standard at 5:06 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Chase the Sun

Finance

It has not been a brilliant week for Novell's shareholders. But some of the press at least alluded to Novell’s performance. Here is Novell being labeled “cash-rich,” which Novell itself claims to be despite the buybacks [1, 2] that may change this.

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Do-No-Evil Saturday – Part II: Business Around SUSE (SLE*) and Xandros

Posted in GNU/Linux, IBM, Mail, NetWare, Novell, Servers, SLES/SLED, SUN, Xandros at 11:42 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

handshake black and white

THERE have been quite a few articles of interest over the past week. SUSE appears in conjunction with Red Hat a lot of the time, but sometimes it’s treated as its own unique entity. Such is the case in the following post from pseudonym ‘Paul Murphy’, whose previous headline, “Desktop Unix: MacOS X and “Sousa Linicks”,” was changed shortly after he had initially published it.

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Do-No-Evil Saturday – Part I: OpenSUSE 11.1 Reaches Third Beta, Gets Early Reviews

Posted in GNU/Linux, OpenSUSE at 10:19 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

3 penguins

Steve Carl has just replaced OpenSUSE with Ubuntu. At least he offers some kind words to it.

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Microsoft Makes New Friends in Open Source World — for Windows, .NET, Silverlight

Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Videos, Windows at 9:24 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

“Who needs Free software when you can have pricey and locked-down mixed-source?”

Microsoft really wants to be everybody’s friend and drape itself in “open source” clothing. It has been trying rather hard to ‘steal the show’ at events such as OSCON [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] and OSBC [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] in order to further blur the line between proprietary software and free/open source software. Is this a good thing? Well, it depends on who is asked.

Some people see nothing wrong with replacing GNU/Linux, exchanging it for something proprietary which comes feature-complete with back doors, restrictions management (DRM), remote access by a vendor, volatile pricing, and discriminatory access to the system (see full antitrust exhibit/document [PDF]). Those who see nothing wrong with this might wish to skip this post, but for others it is worth paying attention to Microsoft's MicroFOSS plan. Jay Lyman of the 451 Group labels it Microsoft’s self interest.

Microsoft self interest is its commitment to open source

[...]

I believe that Microsoft’s earnest intent is to make open source on Windows, ASP.Net and Silverlight as simple and supported as open source on Linux and Apache infrastructure, following on its previous movement toward open source. Would Microsoft benefit from making these newly-supported, open source pieces and products less efficient or integrated?

There is a new series of videos [1, 2, 3] which shows Hank Janssen talking about the Microsoft/Novell interoperability lab, among other things like optimising PHP to work better on Windows than on GNU/Linux. That’s what Microsoft is planning. To not understand and acknowledge this is simply to be left more vulnerable.

Another new bit of concerning inforrmation is the appearance of Microsoft’s Gurthie in an important conference. They let him keynote an Ajax conference, despite the fact that he is fighting against Ajax with proprietary, GNU/Linux-hostile technology, which threatens the whole Web with Windows DRM. It’s called Silverlight and David Gerard wrote about it sarcastically the other day.

“We have a fabulous selection of content partners for Silverlight,” announced Microsoft marketer Scott Guthrie on his blog today. “NBC for the Olympics, which delivered millions of new users to BitTorrent. The Democrat National Convention, which is fine because those Linux users are all Ron Paul weirdos anyway.

Silverlight, which Microsoft wrongly (yet knowingly [1, 2]) characterises as "open source-compatible", is merely another apparatus among the toolset for fighting Microsoft’s #1 rival, primarily through exclusion imposed on access. Moonlight is not Silverlight, and it’s not legally safe, either.

Another noteworthy observation from the 451 Group is this one.

Ironically, some of the most interesting discussion at GOSCON was kicked off by sponsor Microsoft and a talk from the company’s Director of Open Source Strategy Bryan Kirschner about how the company fits into a world where open source is more than just a hobbyist fad.

They realise that persistent presence breeds gradual acceptance. This has shades of the Open Source Business Conference 2008, which was sponsored and kicked off by Microsoft’s Brad Smith, who talked about software patent obligations to Microsoft. There is more of that chorus these days.

In this particular new case, Microsoft is not only a sponsor (paying is easier than deeds) but also a privileged party to kick off discussions at the Government Open Confererence. How quickly things have changed. Or have they? Might Microsoft be pretending again? Well, that’s left for readers to decide. █

“Open source is an intellectual-property destroyer [...] I can’t imagine something that could be worse than this for the software business and the intellectual-property business. I’m an American; I believe in the American way, I worry if the government encourages open source, and I don’t think we’ve done enough education of policymakers to understand the threat.”

–Jim Allchin, President of Platforms & Services Division at Microsoft

Jim Allchin on Novell

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Links 25/10/2008: Adoption Evidence and More Linux Numbers from the LF

Posted in News Roundup at 6:43 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Linux PC auction benefits charity

Want to combine your love for robots and strange mini-ITX systems with your interest in furthering educational opportunities for U.S. schoolchildren? You, too, can bid on this strange, one-of-a-kind Linux system available only through a charity auction on eBay.
[KDE:] the next battle lines
New Xfce beta focuses on usability
Puppy Linux 4.1 Retro ScreenShotsI

was very pleased with Puppy Linux 4.1! The interface was smooth and easy to use.
Three Linux Distros To Watch and Use
Research
- Open source Linux worth billions, Microsoft warned
  
  Can Microsoft compete with an billion dollar open source project which benefits from widespread collaboration?
- Linux Foundation: the kernel is worth $1.4 billion
Networking
- Linux wins big in ATCA “Best of Show” honors
- Sun, Cisco Vets Join Linux-Based Networking Play
- IPTV set-top runs Linux
  
  NeuLion is shipping a Linux-based IPTV set-top box (STB) as a complement to its IPTV encoding and streaming platform.
Preinstallations
- Mac Clone Maker Psystar Offers $299 Linux PC
  
  Psystar’s OpenLite system ships with the Ubuntu Linux desktop preinstalled, running on a 1.8-GHz Intel Celeron chip with integrated graphics support. Upgrading to a dual-core Pentium chip costs an additional $40. “With unparalleled affordability, this computer can bring Windows computing into every home and office,” Psystar boasts on its Web site, even though the system runs Linux, not Microsoft Windows.
- Dell readies small, cheap computer for small biz
  
  Speaking of the Mini 9, while Dell did begin offering the cheaper, Linux version of the SCC earlier this month, readers report it’s still taking the company around two weeks to ship orders. To be fair, the company warns buyers of the XP model that they face the same waiting period for their machines too.
Mobile
Robotics
- “Storage robot” gains community-built apps
- Data Robotics Aligns with Developers to Deliver 20 New Applications for Drobo and Droboshare
Embedded
- SYSGO Announces Support For Adobe Flash Lite In Embedded Linux Solution
- Renesas introduces µCLinux starter kit
*Ubuntu
- Ubuntu 8.10 Release Candidate Is Out
- Everything You Wanted To know About Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex
- Kubuntu 8.10 ‘Intrepid Ibex’ Beta Screenshots Tour
  
  I took these screenshots using a Kubuntu Intrepid Beta installation after performing a full dist-upgrade, at 1280×1024, with the nVIDIA 173 driver installed. I left all the settings in applications default, but I had to make fonts smaller and resize windows (in Konqueror for example), because they didn’t look very well as default. The default theme used is Oxygen.
- Newbies: 7 Useful Ubuntu Tips
Distribution Releases (Also BSD)
Applications
- Five accounting apps for Linux
  
  One of the most often heard complaints from users looking to migrate to Linux is that there are no good accounting applications. To be fair, there is a degree of truth in that concern. At least there was, until now.
  
  There are now a number of good accounting applications available for Linux, no matter whether you’re looking for a personal finance manager for your home budget or something to keep your small business finances in check. So, if you’re in the market for an accounting application that won’t break the bank, grab your bank statements and check out these five apps.
- Linux browser smackdown!
Games
Sub-notebooks
- Eight-year-old picks Linux XO laptop over Windows
  
  A recently performed informal experiment saw an eight-year-old American student pick the Linux version of the XO laptop over the Windows XP version. The eight-year-old, representative of the target audience for the educational notebook, spent an afternoon exploring each notebook, finally picking the Linux version mostly because it had more software that was not yet explored.
- Real-Life Linux: The ASUS Eee PC 1000
- In Search of the Smartphone Laptop
Red Hat
- Nigerian Bank Chooses Red Hat and JBoss SOA Solutions for Mission-Critical Banking Applications
- Red Hat unveils Premier level
Security
- Life in the trenches: an OpenSSH developer speaks
  
  For Miller to dip his toes in these waters is rather far from his roots – he is a self-taught developer, one who, like many others, had an interest in computers in his young days but then turned to other interests until some years had passed.
  
  “My parents got me my first computer when I was about eight,” he says. “Back in those days, owning a computer was very conducive to learning how to program because they didn’t do much unless you programmed them to do something or bought some software which wasn’t particularly widely available in Australia.
- Configuresoft Awarded Red Hat Enterprise Linux Benchmark Certification From Center for Internet Security