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Re: [News] (Software) Patents "Hard to Understand"

begin  oe_protect.scr 
BearItAll <spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> 
>> David Kaefer: "Patents are Hard to Understand."
>> 
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Apparently, Patents are indeed very hard to understand, but no more
>> | so than this deal. I thought that Novell said this wasn't about
>> | patents to them, they are making no admission of latent violations, and
>> | that the deal was indemnifying Novell's customers and not Novell, and
>> | therefore is GPL compliant.
>> `----
>> 
>> http://boycottnovell.com/?p=28
> 
> I wouldn't be willing to boycott novell. Their's is still the best of the
> all round Linux's for free, and their SLES/D are both very excellent
> products.
> 
> If Novell do invalidate their license with gpl it is them that lose out, not
> the rest of the Linux community or distros, incidentally openSuse could
> still continue even if under a different name. However, if Novell go down
> the ranks  because the Linux community boycotted them then that is two of
> our major vendors lost to MS tricks.

Novell is already lost, though, isn't it?  The deal they've reached is
entirely out of keeping with the whole ethos of open-source software,
indeed, appears specifically designed to frighten potential users of
FLOSS.  It's a re-run of the SCO situation, and is potentially
sufficiently damaging that I suspect that Novell out of business may be
better than /everyone else/ out of business.

> 
> Two? Yes, sue me if you like, even call me paranoid if you want to, but I
> think that the Cisco move on RH is in league with the MS move. I bet your
> left sock that somewhere in the ether there are faint echos of a meeting
> where the plan to either take over linux or destroy it was held. A wag from
> MS and a wag from Cisco, both wearing dark glasses and a duffle coat.

Cisco are making their own moves into the Open Source world again, and I
don't think that they really play to the MS tune.  Neither MS nor Cisco
are capable of destroying linux, nor could they "take it over".  They
can, however, attempt to destroy those companies working in it by, in
Microsoft's case, making a deal with Novell which Novell should not have
made.

It will be better to see Novell disappear than this situation continue
as it is.

> 
> It is well known that MS has lost the server market. It is also well known
> that Vista is going to be a disaster, it isn't only Linux advocates saying
> that, it is splashed all over the press and online. So all that MS can do
> really is either have the alternative of a Linux of their own, or do their
> best to ensure there is No valid linux that their users can turn to.

They can only do this if you support Novell in their awful deal.  If you
withdraw support from Novell, it will show all linux distributors that
this move is inappropriate and will discourage others from making such a
foolish move.

> 
> Which two are the most likely to atchive that, RH and Novell. They can
> ignore all others because either their names are not well known outside of
> Linux circles or they are a great deal more difficult for users and IT
> staff who have no experience.

Novell have blown it, so Red Hat are likely to come top in the server
field.  Ubuntu will probably dominate the desktop space.  Windriver &
Montavista look like coming out on top in the embedded space.

> 
> That then buys them time to muddle through a couple of years while they rake
> in the funds from Vista and fudge over problems that come with it. If there
> is no viable oposition then their customers have no choice but to stick
> with Vista how ever bad it may be. Which is exactly what happened when the
> huge waves of virus's first came along, whole networks down, servers down,
> communications down, all because of MS. But no one had a viable
> alternative, except one, the Mac, why the Mac didn't win seats during that
> time I'll never really understand, it was their big chance to take over and
> they didn't. This time though there is Linux which is very able to take
> over from MS, so MS had to do something about it, probably more than one
> something. I bet your right sock there is more to come.
> 
> Keep a close eye on the battles over gpl3  there are some who are very
> worried about some of the wording, including our lord and master himself
> Torvald.
> 

GPL3 is the one thing which can stop this whole approach, in that it
utterly prevents the Novell/Microsoft deal from having any value at all.
It's also perhaps the only thing which might save Novell from this
enormous error of judgement.



-- 
| Mark Kent   --   mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk  |
How many Bavarian Illuminati does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Three: one to screw it in, and one to confuse the issue.

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