Hubert Mantel Returns to Novell
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Thu Dec 21, 2006 09:21 PM
from the changing-of-the-guard dept.
from the changing-of-the-guard dept.
Krondor writes "Hubert Mantel, SUSE Co-Founder, has confirmed in an interview with Data Manager Online that he has returned to employment with Novell. When asked why he left Novell to begin with, Hubert responded that he was 'burned out' and 'following unpleasant experiences with our investors needed some time off.' Slashdot had reported previously Hubert's departure from Novell approximately one year ago shortly following Novell's acquisition of SUSE and subsequent layoffs.
Hubert also provides his opinions on the Novell-Microsoft Agreement, which he characterizes as 'a good thing.'"
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Suse Linux Founder Exits Novell 245 comments
csplinter writes write to tell us that SuSE Linux founder Hubert Mantel has resigned from Novell stating "Too late for me. I just decided to leave Suse/Novell. This is no longer the company I founded 13 years ago." Novell confirmed his resignation but had little else to say on the topic. From the article: "Mantel's departure also comes less than a week after Novell announced a major restructuring that would result in 600 layoffs. It's unclear if Mantel's resignation is related to the restructuring."
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out of context (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.atomjax.com/)
I believe the full quote was "Microsoft just paid me a few duffel bags full of money, so it really can't be anything but a good thing".
Re:out of context (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://redcloudresearch.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday April 17 2007, @03:05PM)
Re:out of bounds (Score:4, Funny)
He'll have something to keep him occupied (Score:4, Funny)
(http://www.saynotocrack.com/ | Last Journal: Friday February 09 2007, @03:02AM)
Confused (Score:1)
(http://www.zarkonnen.com/)
I need more sleep.
What's wrong with these people?! (Score:1)
Mantel doesn't address issues on MS/Novell (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Sunday July 29, @12:15PM)
I had been hoping to hear Mantel's views on the MS/Novell deal, seeing what further insight he could provide. Disappointingly, he only points to the good side of the deal, and doesn't explain why this outweighs the bad side. We already know the good part: that MS has acknowledged the importance of Linux. No one is arguing with that. But the point is, MS is poisoning the waters, as pointed out by Allison's statement, and that is definitely a bad thing.
It's like some small Pacific island country who has just acquired nuclear weapons, and now the USA is going to come invade them with two navy fleets. The island country's president says: "I see this as a good thing: the USA is now taking us seriously." Yeah, right.
Maybe Mantel hasn't had time to formulate his thoughts and reactions to the negative aspects of the deal yet. But you can't make something good just by pointing out the positive aspects and ignoring the negative. You might try it on those populace of those states whose IQ's are in the lower half, but it's not going to work here on Slashdot.
Re:Mantel doesn't address issues on MS/Novell (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know, his answer is fairly comprehensive to me. FTFA:
Explanation, please (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://www.usermode.org/ | Last Journal: Tuesday April 17 2007, @09:13PM)
My understanding is that this is an indemnity deal. Microsoft says it won't sue Novell over patents. While this may be interpreted as a statement of intent to sue non-Novell distros, that still doesn't explain attitude towards Novell. Shouldn't they be considered equivalent to shopkeepers who knuckle under and pay protection fees to the mob? At most they should be treated as cowards, and not as traitors who have sold out the future of Linux.
And what's the big deal with the GPL? I've turned it upside down and inside out, and I can find no restriction against entering into indemnity deals. Not even in spirit. Microsoft may not sue Novell if it incorporates patented code into GPL sources, but the GPL licensors certainly will! So again, what's the problem?
I'm coming to the conclusion that this is merely MDS. Microsoft Derangement Syndrome. It's the mere mention of the name "Microsoft" that has everyone foaming at the mouth. I greatly suspect that if the exact same deal had been made with IBM (who owns more patents than Microsoft ever will) no one would even be batting an eye. It's for these reason I've not asked this question before, out of dread that I would be flamed to oblivion. So please take a step back, count to ten, and calmy explain why Novell is so evil for entering into this agreement.
Re:Explanation, please (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://antiwar.com/)
Re:Explanation, please (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://antiwar.com/)
Glimpse of light in the dark here (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://www.taupehat.com/ | Last Journal: Monday July 17 2006, @07:24PM)
Divide and Conquer (Score:2)
(http://john.daltons.info/)
Let's face it, the Novell-MS deal is probably about divide and conquer as much as anything else. Cut the deal, divide the FOSS world into "Free Software" and "Open Source" then try and bring them down one at a time, ideally using one against the other.
Perhaps MS has found a way to bring "Open Source" into the fold, making it impossible for "Free Software" to work with "Open Source" without compromising principles?
Howie Mandel? (Score:3, Funny)