03.08.10
Posted in Boycott Novell, GNU/Linux, Linspire, Mandriva, Microsoft, Novell, Red Hat, Site News, Turbolinux, Ubuntu, Xandros at 7:24 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A little interlude about where the site is going and why it needs help from readers
There is some discussion in the IRC channel about what may happen to Novell next. We are still producing almost 1 megabyte of IRC discussion per day (usually about 600 kilobytes on average), which makes up about 95% of feedback from readers (Boycott Novell is approaching an audience of 10,000 unique visitors per day, but commenting requires an account).
We thought it would be reasonable to say something about the future now that Novell is at a mortal crossroad because of a vulture fund that had a coup planned for 3-4 months [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. We append some more references at the bottom.
“If Novell was bought and dismantled, this Web site’s name would remain for all all sorts of practical/technical reasons and considerations.”Four GNU/Linux vendors (as opposed to users of it, mostly those who embed it in hardware) signed a Linux patent deal with Microsoft in 2006-2007. The GPLv3 may have stopped this flood of feeble vendors which ended up joining the racket. Linspire got picked up by Xandros, which appears to have almost quit the GNU/Linux market, Turbolinux sort of collapsed onto another firm in Asia, and Novell is now the last one standing. This is major as it means that almost all the companies we boycotted are dying, as opposed to those who kept it ‘clean’ (notably Mandriva, Canonical, and Red Hat). This just comes to show what happens to those who foolishly take Microsoft’s side.
The main issues are still the digital hydras known as Apple and Microsoft, both of which are now legally attacking GNU/Linux with software patents (Apple versus HTC [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], Microsoft versus TomTom, SCO versus IBM, et cetera).
If Novell was bought and dismantled, this Web site’s name would remain for all all sorts of practical/technical reasons and considerations.
We will try to focus on delivering news summaries on a daily basis (these are the most popular items here) and also address threats to Free software. With a Ph.D. completed, I hope to write Boycott Novell full time (sacrificing an academic career to advance the freedom of software), but it would not be possible without help from readers. We estimate that there are many thousands of regular readers who have enjoyed this site for over 3 years (almost 10,000 blog posts were published here), so if each reader was willing to donate a few bucks/quid, that would enable us to carry on going. At the same time, we realise that such moves rarely work as they do not bring in funds, so we are left reluctant to ask for financial assistance (even though it’s needed). Any advice would be appreciated. █
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[1] How Much Will Novell Go For? [The 451 Group reckons Novell's sale is inevitable]
As bargains go, Novell’s (NOVL) valuation in the recently floated bid from a hedge fund is a bit like a ‘crazy Eddie’ discount. Earlier this week, Elliott Associates offered $5.75 for each of the roughly 350,000 shares for Novell. Altogether, the equity value totals about $2bn.
[2] Will Novell Finally Be Acquired? [from the 'Microsoft press']
[3] Novell Gets $2 Billion Takeover Offer From Elliott
Whether they’re interested in breaking Novell into pieces or simply after Novell’s patent portfolio or intellectual property remains to be seen at this point. Either way I don’t see the acquisition being good for Novell or Open Source though. Which brings the next question. Is another suitor likely to jump in at this point. the Var Guy lists IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Computer Associates as potential options. I’d add Cisco as another potential Dark Horse candidate, but agree that IBM and HP are exceedingly unlikely. The realty is that Novell is going to be difficult to digest from a strategic standpoint. They have at least four divergent businesses and Linux only makes up about 20% of the company’s revenue. That means a private-equity firm taking the company private and restructuring may be the most viable option at this point.
[4] BBC America: Palast Hunts the Vultures [hedge funds are so unethical that some consider banning them]
Some vultures have feathers, but some have fancy offices and huge homes. Tonight, BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast follows the trail of one “vulture fund” chief, from a locked office door in New York to mud-brick houses in Africa.
How strange. When I arrive at the offices of Eric Hermann at hedge fund FH International, just outside New York City, the company’s corporate sign is unbolted from the wall and the suite number removed from the door.
But wait … I hear noises inside the office. Huh? I knock on the locked door and out steps the office building’s security manager.
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02.11.10
Posted in Site News at 10:12 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: With about 8 posts per day for 3 years we reach another milestone
THIS is post number 9005 in Boycott Novell. We still have no way of sustaining this site financially (the perils of publishing), but let’s see if we can hit 10,000. Thanks to all our regular readers. █
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02.04.10
Posted in Humour, Site News at 6:59 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Adding more humour and visuals with the help or readers/contributors
WALLCLIMBER, one of our big contributors, was kind enough to make that graphic from the previous post. She’s professional at that.
One reader who offered to hook us up with a cartoonist said that “if Boycott Novell wants to reach out to more individuals, it can use cartoons, because they can say a thousands words, without using words, or in the most simple terms…
“So, I have inserted a few on China, to help give you the idea, and what’s best, when individuals have fun seeing them, they will help spread the word too.
“Cartoons are very easy to understand, and should be encouraged more, especially on a blog, as lots of comments can generate higher volume o traffic, which is what you want, for more new readers to discover the website, right? Each day a new cartoon can be uploaded, making everyone want to go look and see the latest new developments and of course the cartoon!
“If attribution is preferred, we will add one too.”“Pictures are visual methods to share information…”
If anyone is willing to create a cartoon that advocates Free software, please send it to us for sharing (copyleft). We are always glad to receive and share funny or educational imagery, as we already did earlier this week. If attribution is preferred, we will add one too.
The same reader who suggested cartoons has also sent us material from the book “Barbarians Led by Bill Gates”. It was written by someone who is close to Gates and we can quote portions of the book (fair use). This ought to be interesting! █
“Stolen’s a strong word. it’s copyrighted content that the owner wasn’t paid for.”
–Bill Gates, June 2006
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02.01.10
Posted in Site News at 4:47 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Multi-lingual pages and explanation of inactivity
Thanks to all those who contributed translations after a request had been made. We now have a total of 7 languages (hopefully with more coming), at least for the introduction to people who are new to Novell’s role as proprietary software (including Microsoft) helper. We also got translations of some other Web pages.
We’ve had few posts over the weekend and there will be none today as I am down in London for filming of a documentary. There are some good posts coming later this week. █
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01.31.10
Posted in Site News at 7:00 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Gentle request applying to readers who speak more than just English
HERE is the summary of the site as it is described in our Wiki’s front page.
Boycott Novell is a Web site that was conceived after Novell had signed a patent deal with Microsoft, an abusive monopoly. This deal was sought after by Novell and it has initiated:
- A campaign of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) against users and distributors of GNU/Linux. This is similar to SCO.
- Subsequent patent deals involving GNU/Linux, e.g. Linspire, Xandros, and TurboLinux
- Patent lawsuits against Linux (e.g. FAT/TomTom)
- Microsoft’s hijack of of the term “open source”
- Promotion of “interoperability” at the expense of international standards such as ODF
- Penetration of Microsoft’s patents-encumbered software into GNU/Linux (e.g. Mono, Moonlight), which leads to liability and promotes Microsoft as a de facto standard
We wish to reach a broader geographic range of audiences as our Wiki’s front page is read about a quarter of a million times per year. If we could add translations of at least the above text, then that would help tremendously (a concise message in one’s native language). If we have Spanish-, Chinese-, and Arabic-speaking readers, for example, we kindly ask that they only translate the text above and post it as a comment or mail it to roy at schestowitz dot com so that we can add it to the Wiki’s front page (with attribution if that’s preferred). To avoid duplication, i.e. two people working on the same translation simultaneously, please state in the comments if you work on a translation or simply paste it there.
As an aside, we are organising other parts of the Web site at the moment, thanks to the generous help of some contributors and regulars. The site is in desperate need of a refresh. The sidebar, for example, goes back all the way to 2007 (yes, 2007!). Here is what it said before we changed it (an hour ago):
An invade, divide, and conquer Grand Plan
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. Learn more
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. Learn more
Highlight: Linspire’s CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company’s attack on GNU/Linux. Learn more
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. Learn more
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. Learn more
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft’s aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy. Learn more
More analysis >>
The above is very old and it’s gone now. █
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Posted in Site News at 4:38 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Few notes about changes that are coming to Boycott Novell
AS longtime readers may know, the site’s layout has been pretty much the same for over three years. We are occasionally being pressured to make changes to it, so we will start by removing the banner at the top (which has been there since day one). We will also attempt to soften the message a little.
While we will not change the page style (we did assess this possibility before, but page content sometimes depends on it), we ought to organise the content more effectively. There are over 10,000 pages in total. The Wiki was merely a first step towards this goal (it is about a year old), but a lot of work remains to be done. █
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01.25.10
Posted in Site News at 11:36 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Overwhelmed by targets, comments had to temporarily be queued
NONE of the comments were lost, but earlier today there was a torrent of comment spam, which put all comments in the moderation queue (we got flooded by pornographic spam which became visible last night). Anyway, all those who ever comment have their comments made visible. The issues of delay were purely technical and we received mail inquiring about the delay. █
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01.15.10
Posted in Site News at 5:19 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Site changes in a nutshell (one of those brief “status” posts that we try to keep at a minimum)
FOR technical reasons we have recently made the use of Varnish permanent (it makes the site more robust in the face of DOS attacks). This meant that we can no longer have post and comment ratings as they require unique addresses. We apologise for this loss of features, but it’s better than falling offline every now and then. We had these issues for almost two weeks. █
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