Microsoft MVP Novell's de Icaza [1, 2] has put GNU/Linux at risk and this risk is infectious. Here are the responses in Linux Today to the news about the MVP award. It's overwhelmingly negative and it was probably intentionally posted by the editor right next to an item about Microsoft's attacks on GNU/Linux, as shown by Comes vs Microsoft exhibits.
[PDF]. A reader of ours is concerned about the effects Mono has on Ubuntu for example. Yesterday he wrote to us:
Bradley Kuhn had an interesting discussion of desktops.
I like the effort that Canonical has made with raising the popularity of Debian-based distros. I abhor the fact that it and related services, like Ubuntu One, are starting to be used as a vehicle to spread Microsoft products. With the strong integtration of services, like Ubuntu One mentioned there, into the desktop for Lucid Lynx, there are some real conflicts.
No one and no company can be promoting Microsoft products without knowing the one single possible outcome. Ubuntu has spent a lot of time creating a good brand. It is a shame for a bait-and-switch type scam just as things are getting good. Quality suffers as much from Microsoft products as other areas do.
Obviously the Mono problem is at the middle of all that, even though it itself is only the symptom of some staffing problems. If the staffing problems are not cleared up, it has bad repercussions for all of Free Software operating systems, especially upstream in Debian.
Another one of the lower-profile things that Ubuntu hurts with is that it is constantly steering those who don't know better into proprietary formats, drivers and codecs. There used to be proper warnings about what users were losing if they installed proprietary extras. There used to be a clear distinction between 'main' and 'restricted' I have to point out that the things Bradley wrote about and the things mentioned above were in place and made Ubuntu as popular as it is today.
Comments
rs
2010-01-20 18:56:31
http://www.petitiononline.com/botgimp/petition.html
dyfet
2010-01-18 15:11:03
Perhaps one problem is that the Ubuntu code of conduct deals with behavior but does not itself reference software freedom. The DFSG clearly does...I note:
"...#3 Derived Works
The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
..#5 No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons..."
The arrangements between Novell and Microsoft with respect to Silverblight clearly violate this as well as at least most of Mono core libraries.
"...#6 No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research."
This is a reminder that similarly, "Non-commercial use" restrictions are not permitted in Debian either, which even the most "generous" Microsoft patent promise on some parts and uses clearly violates, both in spirit and in letter. Hence, I see the problem as originating in Debian itself violating it's own social contract and core principles with respect to Mono.
Needs Sunlight
2010-01-18 17:43:19
Microsoft is going to spend more effort operating 'behind the lines' causing trouble. Projects like debian have to face up to the fact that some good people might be dangerously naive and that others, despite a happy smile and a round of beer, are there to fatally derail the project.
Roy Schestowitz
2010-01-18 17:47:40
Needs Sunlight
2010-01-18 19:10:14
When they go up against Oracle and Red Hat, it is money they waste: Bill is willing to lose money for an indefinite period of time just to ensure that no one else makes any money in that market either.
When they go up against, Debian and Apache, it is time: Bil is willing to waste everyone's time indefinitely just to make sure no one else gets anything done either.
Roy Schestowitz
2010-01-18 19:25:24
--Robert X. Cringely
The Mad Hatter
2010-01-18 15:35:42
Needs Sunlight
2010-01-18 17:59:38
They being Ubuntu, it's just a matter of naively bending with Microsoft influence. The influence pulls in the opposite direction from the original goals of the Ubuntu project, but as 'compromise' after compromise is reached with ever increasing numbers of Monomaniacs or other Microsofters, the center is moved further and further away from where it was. It's a variant of stacking the committee, where they get their voices nearest the ears of the decision makers.
Venue also plays a role. The last developer summit was in the US and thus excluded many Free and Open Source users and developers, but provided easy access for Monomaniacs and co.
Roy Schestowitz
2010-01-18 17:53:25
It says:
"[PJ: The article, titled "Giving up the GIMP is a sign of Ubuntu's mainstream maturity," paints replacing it with FSpot as a fine thing, and manages to do so without even mentioning mono (Wikipedia: "F-Spot is written in the C# programming language using Mono."). So for me, it's good bye to Ubuntu until they clean it out. It's a question of ethics, but it's also a question of prudence. If you know about patents, even if you think they are stupid, you are foolish at best to pretend they don't exist.
"And if you wondered why Ubuntu is going wrong, in my view, read the following decision-making process, and think about how easy it is to direct anything in a particular direction if all you need is numbers (think Slashdot moderation and Microsoft). A project leader has to decide certain issues, according to the vision, not leaving all decisions, particularly legal ones, to a vote by those who are not even lawyers:]"