Blog Entry

Submitted by David Flax (not verified) on 10 November 2006 - 9:31pm.

Yes, it possible to be pro-Linux and not Anti-Microsoft. Microsoft has its place and so does Linux. Being able to run both on one PC is advantageous for those who need or want to run both. Novell being both open source and proprietary needs to be open with the FLOSS community about what this deal means.

Submitted by Ron van Herk (not verified) on 11 November 2006 - 3:43am.

Hi Donald,

Yes, Microsoft has a history, they are quit aggressive with their marketing methods and with that they have spread some FUD about Linux. But isn't this what marketing is all about, explaining why your product is great and point out where the weak points are with the competition you've got.

The Linux community has used every opportunity to point at Windows indicating that it's security is weak, so as a result Microsoft has put some extra effort into making the security within Vista a lot better (well, let's wait and see when it gets out, I wonder when the first security patch will be released).
Microsoft has used every opportunity to point at some possible the weaknesses around Linux and the legal issues around it (as the Linux OS is much more stable then their Server, they need to find something to complain about), as a result the Linux community has put some extra effort into answering questions around legal issues and get organizations running like the Open Invention Network in order to defend the Linux environment.

Regarding the FUD, the thing that surprises me is that the Linux community now seems to be generating the FUD. With some of the articles I've seen in the last week, I just got the feeling that the writer just wanted to write something and based their story on the emotional discussions within the community without doing some research on the actual facts. Many of the comments I've seen in the past week seem to be based on other comments and not too many seem to be looking at what the real deal is about.

I wonder is there is anyone that can give me a clear explanation indicating why this is a bad thing for Linux (other that pointing to Microsoft's history being anti-open source), I still don't seem to understand why this is a bad thing.

Ron

Submitted by Ron van Herk (not verified) on 11 November 2006 - 3:59am.

Hi David,

I agree, Novell being both open source and proprietary needs to be open with the FLOSS community about what this deal means.

I'm no lawyer, but to me it looks like Novell is trying to do it's best to be as open as it can be at this point. Within the FAQ and press releases there has been some clarification on what this deal is all about, and as far as I've read in the news Novell will even involve institutes like the Software Freedom Law Center (Eben Moglen) to check if the agreement indeed doesn't conflict with the GPL.

I agree, there will need to be some more explanation on what this agreement means for the Linux community, but I assume more of this will follow after people like Eben Mogen have had the chance to evaluate the content of the agreements. Let's wait and see....

Ron

Submitted by Chris Cox (not verified) on 12 November 2006 - 10:14pm.

Who said I (personally) was moving away? As an integrator and Novell partner... isn't the question, "Why are my customers moving away?"

I think that's the question.. isn't it? I love SUSE. But sometimes, you just have to let some things go. And now, we all may be forced to let it go.

Novell believes they are doing something good for the customer. The developers of the software that Novell uses, disagree. I've asked this before... "Is Novell prepared to fork EVERY open source project and support it solo?" If so... perhaps this isn't so looney toons after all... but just seems like a heck of a lot of work to support everything under the sun. Linux (and all of it's sw) isn't simple like Netware... there's a lot to it.

Novell is NOT on the offensive on this one folks. They are being beat up left and right. Customers are concerned and all we're getting is a bunch of pride from Novell (can touch this!). Big mistake.

Tell you the truth.. if Richard Stallman went on a world wide tour extolling the benefits of what Novell has done with this agreement, I think even so... it's too late now. Not sure if this is salvageable.

So... the question is what are WE (as our non Novell parts) going to do? I think the BEST thing to do it to create a fork of SUSE in order to preserve the work before Novell gets destroyed. At least SUSE lives on unencumbered by patent-centric Novell (well.. obviously Novell would sue the creator of such a fork... we can expect that).

I guess ultimately, I'm a SUSE fan. Novell just gave me a place to invest (since SUSE was privately funded). Maybe the SUSE technology could be sold off. Seems the executive team is looking for short term cash anyhow. Maybe they could just sell the technology and make some money and be done with it?? At this point, may be the only right thing to do.

Sigh... what a can of worms Novell has created....

Submitted by Brian Anderson (not verified) on 13 November 2006 - 8:48pm.

I'm just a guy who uses technology at work, and I happen to think Novell has some pretty good stuff. I'm not a crusader for linux/open source or any particular distribution. To me, they are all just tools to get my work done, as are Netware and Windows. I do tire of the Gates tax though and don't like the mono-culture that the MS monopoly has brought about. But Windows does make some things easy.

I also root for linux ( and Novell ) but I've also always been a Cubs fan. I find it a bit ironic though that the same folks that are accusing MS of spreading FUD are doing the very same thing in predicting that this Novell-MS alliance is the end of SUSE.

Bottom line is that this Novell-MS aggrement was struck in the interest of Novell and it's shareholders, not necessarily the SUSE or Open Source community. The space that Novell has it's eyes on is Enterprise, and Big Business cares alot more about mitigating potential litigation and ROI/TCO than the principles of Open Source purists. If that offends you, then by all means find another distribution. But if you have to try and convince your PHB to replace that rack of aging w2k servers with linux boxes, then maybe SUSE is the way to go.

You have to enter to win, and if this agreement lets Novell in where it couldn't get in before then it's a good thing, becuase it lets us choose the best tools for the job.

Submitted by Chris Cox (not verified) on 15 November 2006 - 6:39pm.

Certainly nothing wrong with interoperability. Of course, SUSE and Windows interoperates pretty well today. Without dropping the entire Linux infrastructure (which would be the next "integration" step), I think things are just fine in that arena.

With that said, you may be aware of Sun's 10 year partnership with Microsoft. That deal was struck in hopes of providing seamless integration between the two operating systems (at the expense of Linux). A lab was formed...etc...etc.. (sound familiar?). But at the end of the day (then McNealy) Sun knew that at the end of the 10 years, positioning for a final strike would have to take place (given that Sun and Microsoft can't stand each other). Well... the whole thing is a big mess right now... so much for a 10 year partnership. Both sides were too busy trying to turn the deal into a win-lose. Now... my guess is that Novell is clueless about how to turn anything into a win-lose in their favor, which means that Microsoft is free to steamroll poor old Novell (who thinks of themselves as a Goliath.. man, makes Microsoft look humble in comparison). But... I guess we will all see.

I keep hearing that there is some sort of large contingent that supports the Microsoft/Novell thing... but I know of no one personally who thinks SUSE today is now better... most are worried that they will have to convert and they really don't want to go to Red Hat (and I know that I don't want to be the one to take them there).

Btw, I'd say that 99% of ALL business decisions are based on emotions(money) and NOT on facts. You can look at Novell's stock price to see how they are doing on the money side of things. Ooops... apparently, there isn't ANY interest in this deal.

Are you a shareholder? I am. I want Novell to succeed. This one is going to be tough to ride out (could take several years... which is ok since Microsoft will be bankrolling them for that period of time... at least with enough money to survive).