Exploring the reality behind exclusionary deals with Microsoft and their subtle (yet severe) implications
Summary: A few bits and pieces about SLES, SLED, Novell’s performance, Xandros and Scalix
THERE WAS almost nothing about SLES and SLED in the past week’s news. Here is just a boring Novell attraction which was uploaded to YouTube some days ago, having been captured in Computex not so long ago.
Summary: Assorted news about GNU/Linux that funds Microsoft
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Summary: Novell elevates Windows in datacentres, Xandros wants to live with Windows
IT HAS BEEN a long time since we last pointed out that Novell supports ActiveX, Windows Vista, Internet Explorer, .NET, and even XAML.
Novell’s relationship with Microsoft is simple. Like a relationship where the guy gets love and the woman gets his bank account, in the Novell/Microsoft relationship Novell is given some coupons and endorsement in exchange for GNU/Linux FUD like "IP peace of mind". Additionally, Microsoft advances its APIs with Novell’s help. The examples above include .NET and Silverlight, but there may be more, such as Active Directory. Novell markets this as a necessary bridge while Microsoft uses this to keep regulators away and attract GNU/Linux users to Windows (poaching). When the goal is merely to mimic Windows, then the outcome is naturally inferior for that who is mimicking.
As we wrote some days ago, both Xandros and Novell are giving Microsoft more control over GNU/Linux in the datacentre [1, 2]. Here is the next natural step.
Suse Linux and Windows will become more closely integrated next week, when Novell releases a product allowing Microsoft management tools to monitor the open source operating system.
Novell makes Microsoft the captain in the DC. In simple terms, Novell says that it will help develop a tool that makes GNU/Linux subordinate to Windows where GNU/Linux is already very dominant. Back in 2006 and 2007 Ron Hovsepian insisted that this was part of the arrangement all along. In exchange for cash infusions from Microsoft, Novell will ensure that Windows gains/keeps the upper hand in some areas.
As the article above states, what Novell now boasts are “joint sales of Linux support certificates.” This is just a sophisticated name for “patent protection”. It comes from Microsoft. It is granted only to clients of Novell, but Xandros too has a 'protection' programme. It is worth emphasising that Xandros is "kind of getting away from being a Linux company," to quote its product marketing manager. The company is also assuming that Linspire customers are Windows users whilst selling software that absolutely requires Windows. David at ITWire asks whether Xandros is now “a Microsoft stooge” just like Corel.
Xandros President Michael Bego told DesktopLinux.com that Xandros would announce at the coming LinuxWorld conference a complete desktop solution aimed specifically at low-powered PCs, making it “a practical solution for machines which have no hope of running resource-hungry Microsoft products.”
While such a statement proclaims a chief achievement of Linux, namely its ability to effectively and efficiently run modern software on low-powered hardware, it is surprising and telling by today’s standards that Bego did not also claim Xandros would be a viable alternative to Microsoft Windows on contemporary hardware.
It was not known then but Xandros was soon to become central to one of the greatest farces in Linux history, known as LindowsOS.
[...]
These objectives are good and right. Yet, has Xandros gone too far, becoming a proprietary system of its own? Is Microsoft actually waging a war against Linux through cross-collaboration agreements by diluting the message of open source software and software freedom?
Hence the purpose of Boycott Novell. █
Summary: Xandros plays ball for Microsoft by offering software patent ‘protection’ as a product
ONE IMPORTANT bit of information that we have not addressed yet is the way Xandros markets GNU/Linux. If one adds Xandros to the cart and proceeds to checkout, then there are two options: Xandros costs $99 without “Microsoft Patent Assurance” and $149.99 with it. Here is the page containing more details.
It says: “Now you have the option to acquire Xandros Desktop offerings together with Microsoft patent assurance. This assurance enables you to use Xandros Desktop software with confidence. This program is available for $50. Learn more by reading Microsoft’s covenant.”
“How much does the same thing cost for SLED?”This even links to Microsoft’s Web site. Nice, eh? What a pleasant experience purchasing GNU/Linux from Xandros. This also applies to Linspire, which Xandros bought. They sell Debian with a Microsoft licence for imaginary software patents.
How much does the same thing cost for SLED? And what happens if a customer does not buy this so-called “patent assurance”?
It is sad to see that Xandros still has some presence in sub-notebooks, usually at the expense of GNU/Linux distributions that don’t share a bed with Microsoft. From last week:
The slow-but-steady introduction of ARM-based netbooks is going to be interesting to watch. The above video from NetbookNews.com shows a Pegatron-brand netbook running Xandros Linux on a Freescale platform with an 800MHz ARM CPU, all in a fanless, super slim body that the guy in the video, Sascha, estimates to weigh around 1.75 pounds (800 grams).
More from the news:
Well I started out using the Xandros Linux on the EEE’s and it worked great but I wanted more. So I tried Windows XP for a short time but XP was such a bloated and slow mess I went back to Xandros. Then along came UbuntuEEE (Now EasyPeasy) and I was really happy what it did for my 40G. Finally Canonical came out with Ubuntu 9.04 netbook remix and it’s the bees knees for netbook OS’s.
And lastly:
With major Linux distros like Ubuntu and Xandros embracing the technology, software availability should be improved. Broadband wireless deployments have accelerated sharply over the last year, and should continue to grow by the time the new MIDs appear next year.
It is worth abolishing Xandros, which admits it is no longer focused on GNU/Linux. Here for example is the latest press release which shows that Xandros merely offers hosting when it comes to Linux-powered servers.
A Brazilian Cloud services firm has implemented Scalix Hosted Edition email and collaboration platform to offer robust email and collaboration hosted services to their clients.
Over at Novell’s Web site we’ve found one rave about SLED 11.
Imagine my delight when I received a copy of SLED 11 … it was a polished Desktop with awesome features GNOME-Do is one them and totally a Gem. I could take the Evaluation disk to the Boss, it looked nice, he installed it, was amazed to see it integrate with Active Directory (no PhD required), he feels confident to present it to the Executive Board .. he is pleased with the support options, he feels happy, I feel happy, smiles all round.
Well, yes, but was it required that the boss pays Microsoft for GNU/Linux? Other distributions are equally (or more) capable. They are both libre and gratis and they don’t endorse Microsoft’s slanderous claims by passing money to it. █
“Every line of code that is written to our standards is a small victory; every line of code that is written to any other standard, is a small defeat.”
–James Plamondon, Microsoft Technical Evangelist [PDF]
Summary: Microsoft longs for a more dominant position through control of APIs and Novell actively permits this to happen
LAST WEEK we wrote several posts about Novell integrating Mono with .NET and Windows [1, 2, 3]. To Microsoft, if GNU/Linux assimilates itself to Windows, then it becomes easier for Microsoft to embrace and extend it. It puts Microsoft behind the steering wheel.
“There are other new areas where Novell assimilates itself to Microsoft’s software.”It is abundantly clear that Mono is better to Microsoft than Java is. To Microsoft, Mono is a latch. That’s why it likes it so much and to repeat a ZDNet comment from the Microsoft blog (mentioned in the "Microsoft Moonlight" post):
“Sounds like one more way to help migrate from linux to Microsoft Windows. If this is implemented pulling data from a linux server will be that much easier until the server is no longer needed. I’m liking this interoperability.”
There are other new areas where Novell assimilates itself to Microsoft’s software. Here is the latest example from IDG (assimilation through submissive connectivity). It will be formally announced quite shortly.
Novell next week plans to release yet another tool that is the product of its three-year-old integration agreement with Microsoft, this time a plug-in for Microsoft’s management tools that lets users manage Novell’s Suse Linux.
The tool, which will ship June 19, was produced as part of Novell’s involvement with the Microsoft/Novell Interoperability Lab, which opened in 2007.
Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, is designed to extend across seven SUSE Linux Enterprise OS services the monitoring capabilities within Operations Manager 2007 R2. Users will be able to monitor both Linux and Windows environments from one console.
We wrote about Operations Manager before [1, 2]. It is about putting Microsoft in charge of datacentres. Novell supports this and so does Xandros. Elsewhere in the news this week we found the following:
“More customers are moving to Microsoft, so legacy has been declining Novell was not growing for us.”
This shows who controls the relationship between Microsoft and Novell, does it not? █
Summary: Another relatively quiet week for SUSE, so new articles that merely mention SUSE are searched for and presented instead
THE STREET, a publication mostly known for its pro-Big Business slant, has written about Novell’s results, casting them as “Threat to Microsoft”. Here is a portion from the article.
“Our Linux and Identity businesses have the greatest potential to continue to expand operating margins,” CEO Ron Hovsepian said in a statement, “and we plan to attain profitability within these businesses no later than 12-18 months from today, barring unforeseen circumstances.”
Novell carries very heavy baggage from the past, so its SUSE business (franchise) does not grow quickly enough [1, 2, 3].
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Summary: Potentially controversial remarks from a manager at Xandros
AFTER its patent deal with Microsoft, Novell became a .NET-oriented company that sells “patent royalties” (Microsoft’s name for SUSE vouchers). But another notable company that signed such a patent deal is Xandros, which later consumed another, namely Linspire. Xandros too has a history of leaning towards .NET (at the expense of GNU/Linux) after a deal with Microsoft.
Oddly enough, Xandros is assuming that Linspire users are Windows users (Linspire is now part of Xandros) and its representatives are publicly saying that they hide Presto's identity as Linux. It’s almost as though they are shy or embarrassed by the very software they exploit without pushing much (or anything) upstream.
Timothy from The Register has just caught another priceless quote from a Xandros manager:
While Xandros is not going to turn down a sale for any of its products, and it fully supports what it sells, just like other Linux distributors. Jordan Smith, product marketing manager for OEM solutions at Xandros, is perfectly frank about what Xandros is doing. “We are kind of getting away from being a Linux company, and we are more interested in presenting a user experience,” explains Smith. “Users don’t care about Linux.”
Truth be told, Xandros long ago moved away from its focus as a “[GNU/]Linux company”. Here are some of its press releases from recent days:
i. Xandros Discusses Application Stores and Ecosystems
Xandros has announced that key staff will present a birds-of-a-feather session on using standard Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) technologies to maximize maintainability on Application Stores projects at the Sun JavaOne conference, Moscone Center, San Francisco, June 2, 2009. With the explosion of new mobile computing platforms, from smartphones to netbooks to e-book readers, an application store is no longer optional. It is a key contributor to the success of a platform.
ii. Xandros Creates Enhanced User Experience for Netbook Users With Moblin V2
Xandros today announced it is developing software products based on the recently released Moblin Version 2 project for Intel® Atom™ processor-based platforms. The new version of Moblin will enable Xandros to provide customizations with advanced Internet, media, social networking and graphics capabilities for the ASUS Eee PC. A turnkey Xandros software solution employing new Moblin v2 technologies will be demonstrated for the first time at the Intel booth at Computex, Taipei, Taiwan, June 2-6, 2009.
Accompanying new articles:
i. Xandros Discusses Application Stores and Ecosystems at JavaOne
Xandros today announced that key staff will present a birds-of-a-feather session on using standard Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) technologies to maximize maintainability on Application Stores projects at the Sun JavaOne conference, Moscone Center, San Francisco, June 2, 2009. With the explosion of new mobile computing platforms, from smartphones to netbooks to e-book readers, an application store is no longer optional. It is a key contributor to the success of a platform.
ii. Asus unveils all-band 3G netbook running Google Android
It’s easy to see why Asus would continue to seek alternatives to Windows. Google’s Android is free, which helps in the ultra price-competitive netbook segment pioneered by Asus. It’s also economical on resources, and offers one click access to Google Apps online; handy if your netbook has next to no storage space.
[...]
Keeping its bets open, Asus also demo’d a second version of the SnapDragon netbook running Xandros Linux.
Other new coverage:
i. Xandros ‘Presto: No rabbit in this hat
Xandros has announced that key staff will present a birds-of-a-feather session on using standard Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) technologies to maximize maintainability on Application Stores projects at the Sun JavaOne conference, Moscone Center, San Francisco, June 2, 2009. With the explosion of new mobile computing platforms, from smartphones to netbooks to e-book readers, an application store is no longer optional. It is a key contributor to the success of a platform.
ii. Budget travel tech - stay connected on the move for less
I popped an extra 16Gb in the MMC/SD slot in the side, so I have a bit of room to stash personal files without having to worry about partitions on the SSD drive. So, the hardware is good, but the included Xandros OS failed to live up to expectations, so the time had finally arrived for me to start earning my place on this esteemed writing team, and properly get my head around Linux.
Xandros is still selling GNU/Linux, so it would be an exaggeration to say that Xandros, like ASUS, is moving away from GNU/Linux. It does show, however, the negative impact of Microsoft deals. Xandros is not respected among GNU/Linux users. █
Summary: Criminal charges pressed against William Roseman; SCO hearing canceled and Chapter 7 possibly imminent
IT IS interesting to find just how small a world we live in. Using the Internet, embarrassing news about people would escape almost nobody who pays close attention.
Is it true that one of the key people at Xandros became a mayor? Is it true that he’s accused of third-degree theft? Is this the same Xandros? Yes, it is. A plurality of sources can verify this.
Carlstadt Mayor William Roseman and his former spouse, Lori Lewin, are accused of stealing medical and prescription plan benefits from the borough over the last several years, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
A grand jury indicted the two on charges of third-degree conspiracy to commit theft by deception, third-degree theft by deception and second-degree official misconduct today, May 29.
[....]
Roseman is the co-founder, vice president of finance and director of Xandros, Inc., according to the most recent information available to The Leader.
This would not be the first time that William Roseman finds himself in court. Lindows (later to be known as “Linspire”) sued him and his colleagues about 5 years ago.
Buried in recently published financial documents is the news that Lindows, Inc., has been engaged in a lawsuit with rival and one-time partner Xandros, Inc. since the middle of December 2002. Lindows claims that Xandros failed to repay a $750,000 loan, and that the company and other defendants engaged in fraud and criminal misrepresentation during the negotiations leading up to Lindows’ investment in Xandros.
The information came to light when, on April 20, Lindows, Inc. filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of common stock.
According to court documents obtained by Newsforge, Lindows and Xandros began negotiations to enter into a strategic relationship in the second half of 2001. Two directors of the venture capital firm Linux Global Partners, Michael A. Bego and William J. Roseman, contacted Lindows executives and suggested that Lindows invest in Xandros, a newly formed entity that had been created by LGP to develop an operating system based on code from Canadian software company Corel. Lindows loaned Xandros a total of $750,000 and received three Promissory Notes in exchange, and the two companies entered into a strategic alliance on November 20, 2001.
[...]
To date, the defendants have largely ignored Lindows’ specific allegations; instead they have filed a motion that seeks to compel Lindows to enter into arbitration, while at the same time staying or dismissing the court action. However, three key defendents — Michael Bego, William Roseman, and LGP co-founder and Xandros Chairman Dr. Frederick H. Berenstein — have now been deposed (interviewed under oath without a judge being present). The parts of their testimony that do not relate to the Xandros motion may be a preview of the defense that they intend to present should the case go to trial.
In their sworn testimony, both William Roseman and Michael Bego maintain that it was their understanding that the funds provided by Lindows were pre-payments towards the revenue-sharing scheme established as part of the Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA). The strategic alliance was designed to allow Lindows to put Xandros technology into Lindows’ own operating system; in return, Lindows would pay royalties to Xandros, possibly as high as 50% of total operating system revenue.
Is it not ironic that Xandros later bought Linspire (formerly Lindows) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]?
While on this issue of legal circumstances, despite the fact that SCO issues some press releases, its very end might be near. SCO’s bankruptcy hearing is suddenly cancelled.
Tomorrow’s bankruptcy hearing has been cancelled. This is the one that was about signing off on some fees billed to SCO, the one I told you probably was worth skipping. I gather the court agreed. Why pay lawyers to show up for a hearing on something that isn’t opposed by anyone? It’s an unnecessary expense, if the judge is just going to sign, which is what he was certainly going to do. This is a sensible move. The hearing that matters is the next one, on June 15 on whether to send SCO to Chapter 7 or not.
Groklaw takes a look at what liquidation of SCO would involve.
What happens if a company ends up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy? Here’s the overview from Cornell University School of Law’s Legal Information Institute:
Legal matters are not our area, but Groklaw has all the valuable information. █
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