If they really wanted to ruin Linux then why are they sorting Para-virtualisation for Server 2008 with Xen on SuSE platforms? In theory a little port here or there could get such a thing on any distro.

Also, Novell has learnt it’s lesson and is working to work more with the community before making rash decisions ever again. Novell stock value went down 30% shortly after the deal, then rose slowly up again after that – they saw the damage done to their company with rash moves.

Also just look at the way Novell has supported OpenSuSE with being “truly open”, who else would have their build services open to almost every distro? Who else still supports KDE so well? Also who else tries to innovate beyond standards? (AppArmor has some kick-ass points over SELinux).

I’m more a Red Hat backing individual but OpenSuSE has massive appeal to me, especially on a home desktop. It’s a fact i’d use RHEL/CentOS on a server though.

I haven’t read so much shit, since… I read the last boycottnovell-article.

Note: comment has been flagged for arriving from an abusive Internet troll

That’s extracted from the viral video called “Ballmer’s iPod“.

While OpenSUSE is not a sale per se, it leads to-be or existing sysadmins to SLED and SLES. They becomes experienced and familiar with Novell’s product. They potentially buy them for personal use too ($50/year subscription).

Basically I get the impression that you are only willing to boycott the convenient things for you, but not the ones that really show you putting your money where your mouth is. It’s pretty much a testament to Novell’s awesome contribution to Linux that you simply wouldn’t have a functional Linux desktop or server probably if you tried to strip them out.

A person uses the liberty of free speech to demonstrate against the very same government that gives this one liberty. The protest needn’t necessarily be about free speech.

Convenient, or odd, then, that this decision also helped everyone else. You don’t see RH’s sales going down.

Are you suggesting that Novell actually helped Red Hat when it signed the deal. Ask Red Hat why it needs to battle Microsoft for interoperability and codecs ever since Ron shook hands with Steve.

All I see is one person (namely, you) trying to tear the open source community apart.

Have you ignored all my previous posts about journalists who protest against this deal as well? Or about people who hate the deal but are too shy to talk about it (or have conflicting interests, as in the case of Mark Shuttleworth)?

Instead of spending those extra 1-2 hours of your day working on collaboration in the open source community, you seem to be quite fixed on the contrary.

Let’s clarify this: Novell collaborates with Microsoft. Microsoft wants Linux destroyed and it gives Novell exclusive incentives in order to achieve this goal. Search the Web for literature on “divide and conquer strategies”. Microsoft knows very well what it’s doing. Microsoft isn’t stupid and Microsoft isn’t frantic when Novell hands over these coupons. There’s no hysteria and no frowns. It’s more like an evil grin; it’s Novell and Microsoft against “the world” (Red Hat, Mandriva, Canonical, Samba, BSD and so forth).

Also, I have to agree with Francis above. Your partial boycott is pretty lame, and downloading openSUSE isn’t a “sale” at all. If you want to be effective, target your message at the sysadmins who decide to install SLED.

Basically I get the impression that you are only willing to boycott the convenient things for you, but not the ones that really show you putting your money where your mouth is. It’s pretty much a testament to Novell’s awesome contribution to Linux that you simply wouldn’t have a functional Linux desktop or server probably if you tried to strip them out.

> By not helping Novell increase its sales, Novell’s management can be ‘punished’ and then be properly scrutinised for a poor and selfish (not just Novell-centric but also also relating to personal benefits) decision.

Convenient, or odd, then, that this decision also helped everyone else. You don’t see RH’s sales going down. You also don’t see a single distribution not wanting the new code in OO.o that Novell is contributing as a result of the deal.

All I see is one person (namely, you) trying to tear the open source community apart. Distributions are not ignorant of what the deal involved (do you think this?). Instead of spending those extra 1-2 hours of your day working on collaboration in the open source community, you seem to be quite fixed on the contrary.

Remember: Novell is about Novell and to Novell, being good to GNU/Linux is just a nice-to-have. I’m not talking about the developers here, but about the management at Novell, whose mind is still latched onto Novell’s proprietary roots. These “roots” account for about 90% of Novell’s current revenue stream, which is gradually declining, or balanced through cost-cutting, i.e. layoffs.

Anyway, I think you are taking this Novell thing a bit too far..

Wouldn’t be more productive to help some project or contribute to something than just bash a company?

Sorry if I’m being too intrusive, but I just prefer to help than bash.

I’m not sure that this strand of Linux eye candy can be attributed only to Novell. There was earlier work back in 2005 (starting with wobbly menus, which I think Red Hat developers worked on).

Which fact am I twisting? I can’t help but feel that you’re being a little cryptic here. You’re calling for a boycott of Novell. Does this now suddenly include only its distributions, or its *code*?

You can’t have it both ways, Roy. A boycott is a strong statement; you shouldn’t be surprised that I’m holding you to it.