05.29.08
Novell Responds to Legal Assault by Betrayed Partner
You know what they say: it’s expensive to fight Microsoft(’s buddy) in court
Several days ago we wrote about the lawsuit which Astrum had launched against a betraying company called Novell. Yes, Novell does not just betray the GPL and counterpart FOSS vendors. Like Microsoft, Novell’s ethics seem poor and shallow. Novell was approached for a response about this lawsuit and it all seems ironic.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Novell’s SuSE Appliance program and the “just enough” operating system around which it is centered. It seems not everyone is happy about that appliance program.
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Since I had no idea who sent the e-mail or whether the complaint was authentic, I sent it to Novell for reaction and/or comment. In response, Novell spokesperson Kevan Barney sent this statement via e-mail:
Novell is aware of the claims being asserted by Astrum and believes such claims are without merit. Novell intends to aggressively defend against these claims.
Hey, Novell, did you also believe that Microsoft’s asserted claims against Linux were “without merit”? Did you “aggressively defend yourself against these claims”? No, of course not.
“It is helpful to see how well Novell treats Microsoft while mistreating its former partner Astrum.”Like the coward and sellout Novell decided to be, it grabbed Microsoft’s wad of cash and ducked down when Microsoft shouted out that Linux violates and steals. In essence, Novell happily received a bribe monetary compensation to bear the message that Linux was “tainted”. Nice move, Novell. It is helpful to see how well Novell treats Microsoft while mistreating its former partner Astrum.
As a side note, in the context of this story, Boycott Novell’s criticism was mentioned and quoted in the low-key press the other day. We intend to continue covering this exceptional case of hypocrisy.
Novell got new friends; old ones be push out the sandbox! █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
Miles said,
May 29, 2008 at 2:48 pm
That’s because talk is cheap. As the saying goes, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. How much did Microsoft’s FUD really hurt Linux? Seems to me that Linux adoption is growing faster than ever, so it couldn’t have done much damage (I suspect people have long learned not take take Microsoft’s word at face value).
As far as Novell fighting the case against Astrum… well, Astrum aren’t making idle threats, they are actually taking Novell to court, so of course Novell is going to fight back.
Your logic is really quite humorous (which is why I even bother with this site occasionally).
Roy Schestowitz said,
May 29, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Wow, Miles, I’m impressed. You really love Microsoft, don’t you?