Bonum Certa Men Certa

How Mono Helps Microsoft DirectX, With Contribution From VMB_ware


Paul Maritz (VMB_ware CEO, formerly Microsoft)
Photo by Robert Scoble



Summary: Several Microsoft executives who run VMB_ware continue to work on projects which, along with Novell's projects help empower and spread Microsoft APIs

ACCORDING to this new article from IDG, VMB_ware and Novell are currently negotiating the price which VMB_ware will pay for SUSE (along with Mono and Moonlight based on some other reports). VMB_ware is run by executives who used to work for Microsoft and it may soon have power over Microsoft APIs inside GNU/Linux, including Gallium3D which appears to promote DirectX at OpenGL's expense.



IDG makes it sound as though the sale to VMB_ware is almost a done deal. To quote:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting rumors that VMware may buy Novell's SUSE Linux OS business, though Atachmate is competing for the est of the company's assets.

VMware and Novell have agreed on everything but price, according to the WSJ, which cites unnamed analysts as saying the tools built to help Linux administrators manage virtualized OSes will strengthen VMware's own VM management apps.


We are beginning to wonder what VMB_ware may plan to do with Microsoft-taxed SUSE, Mono, and Gallium3D. These assets can help VMB_ware help Microsoft. To quote a conversation from yesterday, there is evidence to suggest Mono is now linking/embedding some Gallium3D.

Very informal discussion ought to be assumed (it is an IRC discussion, thus nothing polished):

jimbo_I read a week or 2 ago about VMB_Ware pushing DirectXOct 20 19:33
schestowitzAny news on that?Oct 20 19:34
schestowitzgnufreex and Diablo-D3 raised the issueOct 20 19:34
jimbo_you might find it interesting to note that Moonlie is using itOct 20 19:34
schestowitzI just published the logsOct 20 19:34
jimbo_the gallium3d thingOct 20 19:34
Diablo-D3Im completely fine with itOct 20 19:34
jimbo_so team appologista is also pushing itOct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3the tracker is only for dx10/11, which is an almost carbon copy of gl3+future.Oct 20 19:35
gnufreexIt looks like there is no patent danger. I checked. But there is still API control danger.Oct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3and, the tracker itself is almost a carbon copy of how you'd write a future-only gl3 tracker.Oct 20 19:35
jimbo_diablo3d just like .not is a clone of java? ;)Oct 20 19:35
schestowitzvmware gallium3d?Oct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3jimbo_: -D3, and yes, basically how c# copies javaOct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3jimbo_: except its c++ and LOOKs like d3d9, it just isntOct 20 19:36
jimbo_diablo: m$ has patents all over the place on .netOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3anyone trying d3d10/11 with a 9 mindset will write shitOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3sun has patents all over the placeOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3also, this is an APIOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3the patents being held will be held by companies like AMD and NvidiaOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3remember, gl and d3d both are high level wrappers for vendor-specific HALsOct 20 19:36
jimbo_JoseX a while back wrote a very interesting piece about how you can patent APIsOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3they dont _do_ anythingOct 20 19:36
schestowitzAPIs can have patent trapsOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3schestowitz: not without having the patent invalidatedOct 20 19:37
schestowitzjimbo_: yes, beat me to itOct 20 19:37
jimbo_schestowitz :)Oct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3like, I can write an API that uploads s3tc to a video cardOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3they cant sue meOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3Im not decoding itOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3the video card isOct 20 19:37
gnufreexMicrosoft has one OpenGL patent they bought from failing SGIOct 20 19:37
gnufreexRest are expired.Oct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3gnufreex: except it applies to _running_ GLOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3as in, what happens on the video cardOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3there is nothing being done usefully in software, for performance reasonsOct 20 19:37
jimbo_anyways, about to head out with friendsOct 20 19:38
jimbo_just thought I'd pass along the info about moonli and gallium3dOct 20 19:38
schestowitzDiablo-D3: APis alone are not the infringement, but writing for them may beOct 20 19:38
jimbo_moonlieOct 20 19:38
schestowitzlink/Oct 20 19:38
schestowitz?Oct 20 19:38
schestowitzSVN/GIT?Oct 20 19:38
jimbo_hold on, gotta re-search for itOct 20 19:38
Diablo-D3schestowitz: but we're not writing for themOct 20 19:38
jimbo_yea, it'll be in git in the configure.inOct 20 19:38
Diablo-D3AMD and Nvidia and Intel didOct 20 19:39
schestowitzMaybe VMB_ware will just buy MonoOct 20 19:39
Diablo-D3remember, all this shit runs on the cardOct 20 19:39
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[gotunandan/@gotunandan] RT @cassidyjames So, OS X Lion App Store = !Ubuntu Software Center, Mission Control = Gnome Shell, Multitouch Gestures = UTouch... what ...Oct 20 19:39
jimbo_http://github.com/mono/moon/blob/master/m4/gallium.m4Oct 20 19:40
TechrightsBot-trTitle: m4/gallium.m4 at master from mono's moon - GitHub .::. Size~: 38.95 KBOct 20 19:40
jimbo_that's the gallium3d detection codeOct 20 19:41
jimbo_configure script codeOct 20 19:41
jimbo_http://github.com/mono/moon/blob/master/configure.acOct 20 19:41
TechrightsBot-trTitle: configure.ac at master from mono's moon - GitHub .::. Size~: 72.32 KBOct 20 19:41
jimbo_that's their configure.ac which uses itOct 20 19:42
jimbo_phoronix also talked about itOct 20 19:42
jimbo_iircOct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[flameeyes/@flameeyes] Did #Canonical not trademark #Launchpad? Now we're going to get confusion between theirs and Apple's :/Oct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[tekk/@tekk] okay !rmsgnulinux, I know you've been waiting forever for 1.2.5 kde but right now I'm working in a kde 3.5.12(trinity) package for ya \o/Oct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[schestowitz/@schestowitz] Open source moves into the enterprise at NZ organisations http://ur1.ca/24rip Not just NZ, but this is NZ-based siteOct 20 19:42
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Open source moves into the enterprise at NZ organisations | Computerworld NZ .::. Size~: 44.47 KBOct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[eff/@eff] Geotag, You're It! https://eff.org/r.2tv Android and iOS respect your geolocation settings. Check them!Oct 20 19:44
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Geotag, You're It! What Your Smartphone Might Be Saying Behind Your Back | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse .::. Size~: 26.49 KBOct 20 19:44
*scientes (~scientes@c-76-28-168-154.hsd1.wa.comcast.net) has joined #techrightsOct 20 19:45
jimbo_http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2010/Jan-07.htmlOct 20 19:47
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Pixel Shaders for Moonlight - Miguel de Icaza .::. Size~: 14.13 KBOct 20 19:47
jimbo_that shows they are indeed using itOct 20 19:47
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[tekk/@tekk] !rmsgnulinux if anyone doesn't know, trinity is the kde3 continuation project. Hopefully we may become a go-to distro for kde3 lovers =3Oct 20 19:47
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[schestowitz/@schestowitz] #HP announces #Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 http://ur1.ca/24rl9 "1GHz Palm Pre 2, as well as a major WebOS 2.0 update" !llinuxOct 20 19:47
TechrightsBot-trTitle: HP announces Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 - News - Linux for Devices .::. Size~: 55.63 KBOct 20 19:47
jimbo_vm_bware might be buying mono/moonlie as an injection vectorOct 20 19:48
jimbo_for gallium3dOct 20 19:48
jimbo_piggyback on other patent trojansOct 20 19:48
jimbo_you can probably find more info about thisOct 20 19:49
jimbo_this is only a startOct 20 19:49
jimbo_but I find it highly suspectOct 20 19:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[nhi/@nhi] â™» @eff: Geotag, You're It! https://eff.org/r.2tv Android and iOS respect your geolocation settings. Check them!Oct 20 19:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[nhi/@nhi] â™» @schestowitz: #HP announces #Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 http://ur1.ca/24rl9 "1GHz Palm Pre 2, as well as a major WebOS 2.0 update"Oct 20 19:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[schestowitz/@schestowitz] Sheesh! When Will Folks Acknowledge GNU/Linux Has Arrived? http://ur1.ca/24rlo Linux dead? 2000 called, wants headline back...Oct 20 19:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Geotag, You're It! What Your Smartphone Might Be Saying Behind Your Back | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse .::. Size~: 26.47 KBOct 20 19:49
jimbo_too much of a coincidenceOct 20 19:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: HP announces Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 - News - Linux for Devices .::. Size~: 55.63 KBOct 20 19:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: ur1 Generator .::. Size~: 1.93 KBOct 20 19:49
jimbo_good nightOct 20 19:49
*jimbo_ has quit (Quit: Page closed)Oct 20 19:50


Assuming there is intent to just promote Microsoft APIs, OpenSUSE ought to escape Novell/VMB_ware by forking and breaking away from Novell trademarks (VMB_ware has no real development communities). There is an OpenSUSE Conference (OSC) these days [1, 2], but apart from that, almost nothing is going on at OpenSUSE anymore. Andreas Jaeger has just announced a new release of OSB, but that's about it:

The openSUSE Build Service – OBS – is now officially at release 2.1. We’re delighted with the improvements in this release, including an enhanced web interface, integration with online code management systems and better access controls.


More here:

Tomorrow the openSUSE Conference is beginning in the always-wonderful Germany for a three-day event about the openSUSE project and free software in general with a variety of hacking sessions, birds of a feather sessions, and surely some Nürnberg beer along the way. Sadly due to some last minute scheduling changes and only getting back from San Diego yesterday, I on the behalf of Phoronix will not be in attendance at the German conference, but there is openSUSE news to report today: version 2.1 of the openSUSE Build Service has just been released.


In order for OpenSUSE to secure a GNU/Linux direction, its developers may have to get dissociated from Novell before it's sold to the Microsoft executives who run VMB_ware. It seems as though they are quite interested in the Mono part, which is Novell's crown jewel (in its own eyes at least).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
 
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.