After flirting with tech from 1989 onwards, Sam Varghese began to experiment with Linux in 1998. A couple of years later, he began using the Debian distribution as a single-boot system for his personal use. From that point onwards his interest grew and he has since written widely about free and open source software, with a great deal of his writings based on his own experiences, rather than anecdotal evidence. Open Sauce will focus on a genre of software that is present everywhere but rarely acknowledged; a genre that has little eye-candy but does most of the heavy lifting; a genre that is designed and written by people whose accomplishments are only occasionally recognised. Above all this blog will follow the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Novell uses Microsoft FUD to market itself

by Sam Varghese

Tuesday, 02 October 2007

! For some time, we have not heard anything about the patent sellout which Novell inked with Microsoft 11 months ago. Microsoft has since used the deal as the basis for spreading FUD about Linux, with claims that the free operating system could be in violation of as many as 235 patents which Microsoft claims to own. Now Novell is doing more or less the same thing. A company representative has told a conference, (MP3 file, 42 meg) organised by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, that when it needs to cut a deal with a prospective customer, the approach taken is: Which Linux do you want? The one that works with Windows or the one that doesn't? The reference to a Linux that does not work with Windows is meant to convey Novell's claim that Red Hat Linux, the top selling Linux distribution for business customers, has less of a chance of inter-operability with Windows, simply because Novell signed this infamous patent deal. The Novell representative cited five areas of interoperability in which the two companies were collaborating - virtualisation, systems management software, directory services, document formats (ODF and OOXML) and Silverlight. That these claims also could be taken to mean that Novell is developing a non-standard Linux, one that is skewed only towards working with Windows, appears to have escaped Novell. In other words, Novell has an "in" with Microsoft which Red Hat does not; Utah and Redmond are in bed together and Red Hat is an intruder. Novell is quite clearly hoping that the long silence about the deal will slowly come to mean that people have accepted it and chosen to, in the words of Iraq invasion apologists, "move on." Of course, Novell's marketspeak isn't accurate. But then marketspeak generally isn't. That isn't the point. The point is that Novell is now, droid-like, using the same FUD that Microsoft does to try and increase its sales. And at the same time, some of its senior officials keep saying that they do not subscribe to the oft-repeated Microsoft claims about patent violations. Novell is capitalising on the patent fear which Microsoft has been trying to spread and attempting to increase its customer base. And in this craven venture, it is aided and abetted by those who keep silent. Deep within the bowels of Novell reside two so-called open source supremos - Miguel de Icaza and Nat Friedman. Neither of these worthies has said a word about this - and you can bet that neither will comment at times like this. It is best to keep quiet, bow your head and let the storm blow over. Putting up one's hand to be counted is a tremendous risk. One can't rule out either of them writing a book five years down the line, claiming that they had told people within the bowels of Novell that it was all a bad idea. You know, the way George Tenet, the ex-director of the CIA, did earlier this year in his massive tome about his days at the agency and the way he had opposed the Iraq invasion. Or the way Robert McNamara, the US secretary of state during the 60s, did both in a book and a film to try and absolve himself of his role in the Vietnam war. One more thing that was made clear at this conference is the fact that the patent deal does not prevent Microsoft or Novell from suing each other; the deal only provides for the customers of each company, with one pledging not to sue the other's customers. Now that it has been made clear that Novell owns the Unix IP, the question does arise as to who is on a stronger foundation when it comes to IP - Novell or Microsoft. Unix existed long before Windows so the possibility of ideas flowing from Unix to Windows seems much more likely than the other way round. To the average Linux user it is somewhat disgusting to listen to the proceedings of a conference of this nature and hear Novell and Microsoft indulge in the same marketspeak. There were no techies present, only marketing and legal people, so that should tell people a lot about the nature of the deal. What would be disquieting to both companies is Red Hat's growth , with this company recently announcing that it has more than doubled its earnings for the third fiscal quarter year on year. Microsoft has been looking to Novell to curb Red Hat's growth and finally, hopefully, extinguish the forerunner among Linux companies. Quite clearly, the deal has not curbed Red Hat's business in any way. Microsoft can understand the whole software ecosystem in one dimension - marketing. Hence its belief that killing off Linux companies one by one will lead to the failure of the operating system itself. All one can say to those who believe this is: dream on. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment! Tags See All Tags Linux  Microsoft  Novell  Open Source  Patents  Sam Varghese  Software  Windows  Get stories like this delivered daily - FREE - subscribe now

 

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