Bonum Certa Men Certa

IDG OpenMic Should be Renamed OpenMicrosoft

Open Microsoft with Zonker



Summary: A show called "OpenMic" has literally nothing but Novell employees in it, even members of the board of Microsoft CodePlex (Novell's de Icaza)

TO Novell, Zonker was a wage well invested. As we pointed out before, he uses IDG to boost SUSE. He exclusively invites Novell employees (i.e. colleagues) to be guests there, essentially talking to one another under the "Open" banner. We showed this in two prior posts, namely:

  1. IDG Gives Novell a Podium, Zonker Denouncements Come
  2. Novell Uses IDG to Promote Mono


Here is the latest example* where Zonker describes his guest as "openSUSE booster and GNOME board member" but not as a Novell employee. According to this, he joined Novell last year.

Still, I'm excited because a whole new era opens for me. Starting tomorrow, I'll be working at Novell with some heroes like Federico, Rodrigo or JP. The reason I'm excited is that this job is about GNOME (upstream and in openSUSE) and this will allow me to stay involved in the project instead of disappearing in some black hole. Pretty good stuff, if you ask me. And it will be quite a big change from the academic life I had before!


This is yet another great example of Novell boosters in the press, including GNU/Linux news sites. Zonker serves his role as a PR rep, pushing Novell and SUSE into publications and giving them visibility. He does not even make it hard to see. That's his job. Here is a guest post by Novell's Zonker (Joe Brockmeier) from just a few days ago; it's all about boosting in social media. In the case above, Novell employees are treated as representatives of Free/open source software, which they are not.

Speaking of misrepresentations, Our reader Goblin says that he is "[f]ed up with sites claiming one person represents the views of everyone. Check out my reply to this article that suggests I speak for the open source community in respect of Codeplex."

Just like you to make a correct to this article of yours.

I do not represent the FOSS community, I represent my own views/opinions.

Please do not also suggest that just because its Microsoft, the open source community will be against it. (although who can blame people for being dubious when Ballmer makes comments about cancer in respect of it)

I am not critical of Apple or Google and they are both large firms (since its also suggested FOSS supporters hate large business) The reason why Im critical of Microsoft products is because I was burned by them AND FOR ME they are not fit for purpose. I cannot say the same about Apple or Google.

Just like I wouldn't say this site represents those who support proprietary “expeditions” into the world of FOSS, please do not seek to generalize me or anyone else merely because our choices in software differ from yours.

NOTE: Incase you decide not to print this a screengrab has been taken.

Regards Goblin.


Is it not funny that IDG lets Novell become a spokesman for the "open source" community and also allows the host to bring only people from Novell (conflict of interests), including Mono boosters? ____ * Third time in a row that he brings over Novell employees, three out of three overall.

Recent Techrights' Posts

SoylentNews Grows Up, Registers as a Business, Site Traffic Reportedly Grows
More people realise that social control media may in fact be a passing fad
 
Garden Season Starts Today
Outdoor time, officially...
More Information About Public Talks That Richard Stallman Gave This Week in Europe
Two talks in Switzerland
Engadget is Still a Spamfarm, It's Just an Amazon Catalogue (SPAM/SEO), a Sea of Junk Disguised as "Articles" With Few 'Fillers' (Real Articles) in Between
Engadget writes for bots now, not for humans
Richard Stallman's Talks in Switzerland This Week
We need to put an end to 'cancer culture'; it's trying to kill people and it is even swatting people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 28, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, March 28, 2024
[Meme] EPO's New Ways of Working (NWoW), a.k.a. You Don't Even Get a Desk at Work and Cannot be Near Known Colleagues
Seems more like union-busting (divide and rule)
Hiding Microsoft's Culpability in Security Breaches and Other Major Blunders (in the United Kingdom, This May Mean You Can't Get Food)
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is vast
Giving back to the community
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 28/03/2024: Sega, Nintendo, and Bell Layoffs
Links for the day
Open letter to the ACM regarding Codes of Conduct impersonating the Code of Ethics
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
With 9 Mentions of Azure In Its Latest Blog Post, Canonical is Again Promoting Microsoft and Intel Vendor Lock-in, Surveillance, Back Doors, Considerable Power Waste, and Defects That Cannot be Fixed
Microsoft did not even have to buy Canonical (for Canonical to act like it happened)
Links 28/03/2024: GAFAM Replacing Full-Time Workers With Interns Now
Links for the day
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries