● 08.06.07
●● Novell Sings Microsoft’s Self-serving Tunes
Posted in Boycott Novell, FUD, Humour, Microsoft, Novell, Patents, Ron Hovsepian, Steve Ballmer at 4:02 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Weird-looking Steve Ballmer with a small puppet tied to strings, eh? Think of the picture on the right as a depiction of the Novell-Microsoft relationship. When a company becomes financially dependent on another, it is natural to expect a certain bias that favours those in control. Over the past few months — on several occasions even — Novell has made certain statements which it later regretted, retracted, or claimed to have been misinterpretations. Here are a few examples of cases where Novell goes batting for Microsoft, whether intentionally and knowingly or not.
Disclaimer: links lead to contextual references, not necessarily the original sources, which are cited therein.
Novell Employee Backs Microsoft in OOXML Clash with Europe
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Miguel de Icaza, with a history or taking Microsoft’s side, states: “The EU Prosecutors are Wrong“ [on OOXML vs ODF].
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Novell Confirms the Deal Was About “Intellectual Property
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In mid-November, shortly after the pact was announced, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer said companies that sell or run Linux, but aren’t covered under the Novell deal, are illegally using Microsoft’s IP. “We believe every Linux customer basically has an undisclosed balance-sheet liability,” he said.
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He said in a later meeting: “I do think it clearly establishes that open source is not free.”
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Novell and Microsoft Decided for that World That Interoperability Requires “Assurance” and ‘Tax’”
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I felt constrained to point out that for 20 years Unix, and then Linux customers, hadn’t felt the need to be protected by such agreements. It’s curious why customers should now suddenly need assurance.
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Nat Friedman Defends Pact with Novell’s #1 Rival
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Nat Friedman: I haven’t seen that until now, I mean there have always been flamewars in the Linux community, it’s part of the community culture.
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Novell’s Desktop Migration Strategy: Slow and Steady
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So, rather than compete directly with their partner Microsoft with their award-winning “complete desktop replacement”, Novell is instead encouraging other Linux vendors to also embrace Microsoft and is preaching peaceful coexistence with Windows.
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