A 5-Year Deal With Microsoft To Dump Novell/SUSE 174
Nicholas Petreley writes, "Wake up little SUSE, wake up. No, that's not good enough. Wake up SUSE customers, wake up. Novell is jeopardizing the future of Linux for its own short-term rewards. If you want to see Linux flourish, let alone survive, after Novell's five year deal with Microsoft expires, I suggest we make an alternative five-year deal with Microsoft. In this case, our part of the deal is to spend the next five minutes, months, or years migrating away from every shred of Novell/SUSE software in our home, office, or enterprise."
Lets Get Biblical? (Score:5, Funny)
SuSE and Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft advertises on slashdot as well.
Microsoft is, in the end, just a company. It may be a monopoly, but it is just a company. It's not going to destroy linux if one company makes a deal with another one. Linux is an operating system that spans MANY companies. If anything, this may get linux into more of those pro-windows IT shops. The ones that aren't pro-windows won't care about the deal either way.
It just seems odd to me that people are foaming at the mouth over this.
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Actual Knowledge (Score:5, Insightful)
People who have seen the comments who have publicly shared the exact details on
Honestly sometimes the
Sheesh....time for a break from my tinfoil hat and staying indoors.
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I hate questions that require time to sort out. Will the Democrats taking back Congress be a good thing? Who knows? I remain, for some reason, forever hopeful, but if Novell becomes a MS pawn - well... I'm gonna stick with hopeful, because the other end of the spectrum is not that pleasant.
So we'll wait...
I'm doing my part... (Score:4, Funny)
I'm doing my part already. I installed the RC2 on my test pc and will be installing the final version on all compatible machines.
hell no (Score:3, Funny)
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ATTN EDITORS:Thread problem (Score:4, Informative)
Looks like replies are broken, perhaps data-base limitation, see LiquidCooled's post here [slashdot.org]
Dont't tell! (Score:2)
I am shocked.
Positively shocked.
This reply is to posto 25 above it.
Let's look at this objectively (Score:5, Insightful)
In brief: Microsoft has cross-licensed software patents with Novell. The idea is to legitimize their patents before they attempt to sue other Linux distro vendors (and probably others).
The author is correct in their assertion that, if Novell has done so (and it appears that they may have), they are actually now in violation of the GPL. From section 7:
For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.
The endgame is where I lose the guy a little on the specifics, but it doesn't really matter. The point here is another anti-Linux legal FUD campaign. suffice it to say, this is hardly a conspiracy theory. Microsoft is the direct author of SCO.
Say it with me, kids. Software Patents are Insane.
Software Patents are Insane.
No one can read 200,000 of them, or the few thousand new ones each day. No human being can validate code against the patent base. All software is a ticking patent timebomb. It is (vaguely) legalized barratry, and the rest of the world (who has soundly avoided this insanity) will be laughing at the American software industry all the way to the bank.
There is no solution short of immediate and complete invalidation of all current and future patents on software.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
How About a Third Option (Score:5, Informative)
Perhaps there's a third option: SUSE will contain code covered under Microsoft patents, since Microsoft is helping both the distribution and Windows interoperate better, which might mean breaking a few of its own patents, since Microsoft has that right.
How about a fourth? The article thinks Novell is spreading FUD. Maybe out of this deal is code for use in other linux distros, but Microsoft is helping to energize SUSE given how much money was dumped into Novell.
Now for a fifth: the article referenced in this post is just spreading FUD. It's the typical, "It stinks of Microsoft so it must be bad." I don't see how better interop is bad.
Novell is doomed, and they will hurt Linux (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:Lets Get Biblical? (Score:3, Informative)
Is it really that bad that Microsoft and Novell made this deal?
No, but at the article maintains...
And if you are a Linux booster, your first thought is that SUSE/Novell has sold its soul to the devil. But don't kid yourself; all arguments about patents and the GPL aside, the frightening thought is that Microsoft might steal ideas from Linux, wrap them in subtle obfuscations, and try to pass them off as original concepts that were natural outgrowths of Windows development. The thought that Linux and Windows might procreate... well, that's gotta be kinda shocking. But then again, doesn't this potentially lead to the Linux community getting a better look at Windows and perhaps pulling the same in reverse? In the end we end up with something that will probably be stillborn. As to the death of SUSE, I think the threat is greatly exaggerated.
Goodbye, little SuSE (Score:3, Funny)
I'm dating a nice lady from Africa named Ubuntu. And she has all the features I need!
Another person upholding the elitist stereotype (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you want in the door at Fortune 500 companies? I mean lots of them? Then this is a good thing.
If Linux is to displace Microsoft then it needs exposure exposure exposure. It needs people seeing if they can run complex Excel spreadsheets with VB Macros on other platforms. It needs people seeing if there are alternate Exchange backends that allow full Outlook frontends.
If Linux works well with Microsoft more people will at least *try* Linux, plain and simple. When people try it, they either stay with it or come back and say why it won't work.
For example, there are tons of popular PC platforms that various Linux distros won't work on without changing things. Just 2 weeks ago I attempted to install the newest Ubuntu build on a 3 year old P4 IBM business class PC and you know what, it wouldn't install. I was able to troubleshoot it to a lack of onboard video memory, but a quick bios fix took care of that. Unfortunately the error that came up was so vague that the "average" user would have probably given up.
Linux needs all the "new" users it can get. They are the ones that find the funky errors, the ones that the "elites" otherwise consider a "minor" issue.
One of the reasons that Windows is so popular is that for the most part it installs without any problems, especially on PC's from major manufacturers (which Fortune 500 companies tend to buy).
Enough now, I'm at work.
the wonders of Linux on the desktop (Score:2)
My hands-on review of SLED10 [techbuilder.org] just got published.
In which I say that "Vista-killer" as applied to SLED10 is hype, but SLED11 might actually be a "Vista-killer". I define this as a Linux distro which can be run by an average home user if the OS is preinstalled and will handle what the average computer user needs done and on which that user can i
Yes (Score:2)
Yes.
Microsoft is the author of SCO.
They are continuing to do anything and everything they can to sabotage Linux specifically and open-source in general, not out of any particular malice, but just because it's business, and that's how they interpret their duty to their shareholders.
There are very few reasons why it would be worth it to Microsoft to make such a big payout to Novell to "cross-license" ludicrous "software patents" with them. A rathe
Dancing with the Devil (Score:2)
Great! A Chance to Express Myself! (Score:5, Funny)
At any rate, I'll make some statements to start a conversation and if the rest of Slashdot agrees with them, do not respond or refute them:
- Microsoft is the awesomenest company ever--assimilating Novell's SUSE is just another sign that we need to worship MS.
- Vote Republican or you kill babies.
- Linux is a deformed version of something I threw up last night after too much whiskey.
Once again, remember that silence is complacency, I await your responses if you disagree with me!Re:This makes no sense (Score:3, Insightful)
What I find is that they want a magic disc that they can put in the slot in the front of their "hard drive unit" and magically everything either works, or fixes itself. They are just as confused about having to run setup from a CD as they are about running an install script. Either one is a kind of "black magic" to them as they don't understand either. Many of them don't know if they have installed software or not, despite having run the installation CD.
The hunt for drivers or updates is something that all computer users used to have to do. The Linux desktop, while not exactly a shining example of easy to use/install software, is still a viable alternative, and if _regular people_ have to learn one OS or another, there is no reason not to learn Linux. Remember, _regular people_ are baffled by every OS, not just Linux. Your ranting is counter productive, and seems to settle on windows simply because its been here for a few years, and until every other OS looks and works like windows, then windows is the only OS to use. This is not sound logical reasoning.
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Man, some smells are just plain BAD, know what I mean?
Alternatives to Suse please (Score:1)
First off i like Suse over Debian as cd wise there are less patch bandwidth issues (over quota come back next month) that you get with apt-get, otherwise you have compile it from scratch.
The way we use suse means theres still plenty of config file editing in vi. So don't just think gui config tools
Yes I agree novell will 'die in 5 years' becuase of ms deal. - I guess Umbunto will be the new linux desktop os, but for the servers ? fedora ? / fds ?, Were not willing to go 'enterprise' linux.
Suggestions
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Awesome plan! (Score:3, Interesting)
So the best option is react with:
"Novell/SUSE users and customers should wipe Novell/SUSE off their disks and install virtually any non-Novell/SUSE alternative in its place."
Also:
"I seem to recall Microsoft made five year (or similar length) deals with Sybase, Symantec, Corel, Borland, Citrix, and other companies that thrived before the deals only to be reduced to insignificant gnats afterward."
It's the same plan that they used to kill Apple. Oh, wait...
Frequently asked? (Score:2, Funny)
"Novell's November 2 press release states that, "Novell will also make running royalty payments based on a percentage of its revenues from open source products." Are these payments for a patent license to Novell?"
Really be a question a lot of people made?
Then why is the question:
"Is this a trap?"
Not in there?
THe point is: the term "FAQ" is used too loosely these days. I bet there are better engrish words for this reports.
All right, all right we get the message already... (Score:5, Insightful)
Some companies may buy SuSE, because of the Microsoft deal, but I strongly doubt it. SCO has shown that legal threats do not work. Do you really think IBM will beg for mercy if Novell (or Microsoft) knocks on the door, legal papers in hand? Do you think HP will do the same? What about Sun? I don't think so.
As a matter of fact, the Novell/Microsoft deal may be excellent for the future of Linux: I can see a lot of companies (HP, IBM, Red Hat, Mandriva, Sun, etc) get together and pool legal resources to fight any such threat. And that means -- worst case scenario -- that their combined economic power will simply crush any attempt by Microsoft to be "legally" naughty. The fact is, Linux cannot be stopped right now: there is simply too much interest and too much money at stake for too many people. And I suspect Microsoft knows this: it's simply trying to dip a toe in the water, see how this Linux thing really is working, try to work out some sort of compromise and preserve its profit margin. But it knows it can't fight Linux anymore (or, at least, some parts of Microsoft know that -- some other parts may ignore it).
Open source is an idea whose time has come. And it was Victor Hugo who said: "You can't fight an idea whose time has come". Again, I suspect Microsoft knows this. Hence the Novell deal.
Re:All right, all right we get the message already (Score:2)
I'm a Marxist. I don't know if this will ring true since you're probably not, but... Socialism is an idea whose time has come. It can sure as hell be fought, though. Open source will probably, like socialism, never go away but it can be fought indefinitely. We communists have learned to not talk of inevitability.
evolution? (Score:1)
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Linux is user-friendly, but it is not idiot-friendly.
Windows is idiot-friendly.
Dont you get it? killing Novell is what MS wants (Score:1, Informative)
This 5 year deal with novel is nothing more than a smoke screen.. they are counting on our hatred of Microsoft to blind us and have the same exact reaction you're having right now... a call to boycott Novell... then Microsoft wins... don't you understand? Novell dies... as does SUSE along with them, and there is one less distro for MS to deal with... and for a 5 year thing to burry a company $350 mil is not a bad deal... Trust me, they would get what they wanted for cheap.
Throwing out SUSE today (Score:1)
Dumping Novell (Score:5, Insightful)
Novell/SUSE users and customers should wipe Novell/SUSE off their disks and install virtually any non-Novell/SUSE alternative in its place.
Not so easy in a server room, especially in a mixed Windows/*nix server room where Novell's deal with Microsoft doesn't bother management in the slightest, even if you can explain it to them.
An "upgrade" to Red Hat might be the sort of thing that could be explained to the average PHB though, especially if you can make a cost-savings case for it.
We can expect marketing campaigns from Red Hat and Oracle [slashdot.org] anytime now, with "upgrade" deals waved around.
Dump all MONO development for any of the many excellent alternatives, and abandon your investment in all Novell-based open or closed source tools.
Sounds easier: Mono hasn't established a significant base in the corporate market yet. And if Sun GPLs Java [slashdot.org], you could even start presenting Java as not just more open, but also least-likely-to-be-sued.
Weird times.
SuSE lost me when Novell picked them up. (Score:3, Interesting)
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It is not that Microsoft will turn Linux proprietary -- the GPL gets in the way. But consider this scenario: you can run your Linux (SUSE) server, and now, you can use Microsoft technologies! Get the integration you need, you can more easily manage a mixed environment! Five years pass Now, Linux is just a kernel that Microsoft never touches. But they ess
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Can you blame people for their paranoia? Microsoft habitually tries to destroy anything that they get involved with -- Apple, Javascript, IBM, etc.
Is that Apple which now has a bigger turnover than Dell, Javascript that seems to be more popular than ever thanks to AJAX and IBM that has been doing ok recently too? And you didn't mention Netscape that eventually became Firefox. Given your examples, it seems to me that the Linux community should complain that Microsoft is not being mean enough to make Linux
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It is not out of line to say that Microsoft is an enemy of the Linux community, and that SuSE just sold out.
It costs us nothing to drop SuSE and switch to an appropriate distro instead.
The only power we have as users of Free and Open software is the power to include and exclude by our choice.
The ideals behind Debian look better every day.
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Yeah I know, I feel the same way. Maybe I just don't understand the intricacies the modern business world, but how is making a deal with your competitor so they won't sue you going to help you any? I understand that M$ is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room and fear of death by lawuits is a real concern, but I can't see that paying "protection money" to M$ is a viable solution to this. Its like negotiatoting with hostage-takers, sure you might gain something in the shor
Re:Dont you get it? killing Novell is what MS want (Score:1)
Why would they have to? I was a long time Novell fan, but I eventually had to admit that Novell is no longer relevant in the world today.
The truth is that MS just needs to standby if they want Novell to go away. This seems more like an attempt by them to keep the company alive so they can site them as "competition" for antitrust purposes.
I doubt that Novell will be able turn themselves around like Apple did, they have a history of making terrible business decisions.
Should I do it again?... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Under the patent cooperation agreement, Novell's customers receive directly from Microsoft a covenant not to sue. Novell does not receive a patent license or covenant not to sue from Microsoft, and we have not agreed with Microsoft to any condition that would contradict the conditions of the GPL. Our agreement does not affect the freedom that Novell or anyone else in the open source community, including developers, has under the GPL and does not impose any condition that would contradict the conditions of the GPL. Therefore, the agreement is fully compliant with the GPL,"
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS4685037869.html [linux-watch.com]
That reminds me of another, historical, agreement:
"Under the treaty, England receives directly from Germany a promise not to attack Poland. England does not receive a promise not to attack Germany, and we have not agreed with Germany to any condition that would contradict the conditions of previous treaties. Our agreement does not affect the freedom that Poland or any other country in Europe, including France, has under previous treaties and does not impose any condition that would contradict the conditions of such treaties. Therefore, the treaty is fully compliant with all previous treaties."
Sincerely,
Neville Chamberlain
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I can see it know (Score:5, Funny)
"Bad news sir, we need to uninstall SUSE right now and migrate all 30 boxes to another linux!"
"What? Why?"
"MS is bad and makes deals with Novel, if we keep SUSE our linux geek cred score will go down by MANY MANY points. We can't have that."
"...are you high again?"
"...maybe"
Re:SuSE and Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
Every tiny distro out there considers it offensive that they're not included in the deals and financing directly, because they contribute in some way to OSS. Somewhere they've gotten the idea that a small contribution implies ownership of the whole.
It's the same crowd that cries about GPL violations when the software under consideration is licensed under Apache, Mozilla, or a host of other licenses.
Even when dealing with GPL software, they forget that even someone like Stallman who contributed huge amounts of time, effort, and code are still only one team member whose total contribution is still an infinitesmal fraction of the total effort.
If you want to control software, don't use OSS licensing. If you want to share it so everyone can benefit, look into an OSS license that agrees with your personal and business philosophies.
Just remember that virtually every single OSS license out there grants people and companies the right to make money by selling an add on service or product. Packaging and support are a service, and apparently one customers will pay for. The fact that your service or product ideas haven't financed a move out of the basement yet are not the fault of Microsoft, Novell, IBM, or any other company or individual with net-positive revenues.
It's yours. The cheeto-eater. The student with the ideas but no business experience, the theoretician who has proven it works but not built anything useful or saleable from the idea, the idealist who created a great package but has neither mind nor market share.
Figure out a way to convince customers you have something worth paying for, or stop whining that others are more skilled at doing so. Preferably both.
Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish (Score:2)
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It's not likely the editors would be able to fix it anyway (plus, they don't even read submissions, why would they read the comments?), if you want it fixed, notify the maintainers of Slashcode [slashcode.com].
We were standardizing on SUSE... (Score:2)
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Not if you remember that when Novell made Gnome the default desktop in their Novell Linux Desktop product the boards went berserk claiming that Novell had set out to destroy KDE. It turned out KDE was still supported and is still the default desktop in Novell Enterprise products. The current outcry is predictable if you remember the previous ones.
Novell's mission is to make linux mainstream in enterprises that can afford to pay them fo
As long as I can still run mono! (Score:1)
Dang I used to just love SUSE Linux. Their documentation was simply the best. Now their wrapped up with Novell, Microsoft...must ponder this change.
O.o (Score:2)
Gather the troops.
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So this should worry us, and getting rid
Slashdot Paranoia? (Score:2)
looks like some FUD, as the article described it.. (Score:2)
So, lets get this straight, the quotes, paraphrased:
(1) Novell admits no infringement on IP or patented code
(2) Novell is paying MS to keep itself and it's customers from being sued for using MS IP in it's products.
So...
The article is saying (2) suggests that (1) is a lie. Now, IANAL, but it seems to me, if you are paying a royalty for copyrighted/patented/IP stuff, then there is no infringement, so in that matter, (
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Some have better support for different hardware or slightly different ways of implementing things.
If SUSE screws up there will always be alternatives. OpenSUSE is not connected to this deal in any way and could easily diverge if they disagree with the direction Novell is taking.
Everybody just needs to calm down.
Stupid anti-MS fanatics (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, Novell's code is under the GPL. This means that anything Microsoft lets Novell do can be used by anyone else. Thus, MS can't use this to make a 'MS only' version of Linux. In fact, thanks to the GPL, anything Microsoft does to help Novell can help the community as a whole.
Microsoft is not the Devil. Everything they touch is not automatically unclean and corrupted. The worst MS could do is help Novell create a Linux distro that is the standard by which other distros are judged. I know many
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Especially in the EU, where a software patent must be negotiated in each member nation separately. This entire deal is such an obvious sucker, you'd need a lobotomy not to see it. MS is harboring some kind of puerile fantasy that this 'deal' (read 'protection scheme') will enable it to pull a patent rug out from under GPL'd software - except there is no rug. Repeat: there is no rug. The entire deal is complete vaporware.
Buying SUSE to feel safe only supports the sche
Re: It just seems odd to me that people are ... (Score:2)
Not if you remember that when Novell made Gnome the default desktop in their Novell Linux Desktop product the boards went berserk claiming that Novell had set out to destroy KDE. It turned out KDE was still supported and is still the default desktop in Novell Enterprise products. The current outcry is predictable if you remember the previous ones.
Novell's mission is to make linux mainstream in enterprises that can afford to pay them fo
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cool down (Score:5, Interesting)
But in the end, the deal is legally meaningless because Novell cannot protect just its own customers from lawsuits over (L)GPL software; yes, Novell can agree to cover their customers' legal costs, but should Microsoft ever assert any patents against anybody on a piece of (L)GPL'ed software, Novell's customers have to stop using the software in question (well, technically, they'd just not get any updates, but that amounts to the same thing) just like everybody else, since the (L)GPL does not permit redistribution of software that's patent encumbered.
Potentially, this deal could be used by Microsoft to establish that their patents are "valuable", but I think courts aren't that stupid either. Furthermore, we have had several "worst-case scenarios" involving patents, open source software, and litigious companies, and their long term effect has been nil: open source seems to be able to work around intellectual property issues quite effectively.
In the end, Microsoft has given several hundred million dollars to an open source company for a legally meaningless move and the ability to spread a bunch of FUD. It probably would have looked better for Novell to turn them down, but I don't see it as a really big problem that they didn't, and it's a big chunk of change that will probably fund more open source development.
So, should you still use SuSE? I don't particularly like the company; I think they have always been excessively fond of software whose licenses I consider questionable (including Java and Qt). But I don't see them as a big threat either, and they are contributing to the community. In the end, the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot, except that an open source company is several hundred million dollars richer, which can't be all that bad.
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Furthermore, patents are public and Microsoft's patents are closely scrutinized, so there is no mystery as to what Microsoft can and cannot claim. They may be able to cobble together some obscure claim somehow
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http://chomskytorrents.org/TorrentDetails.php?Tor
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not a problem, no really (Score:5, Interesting)
However it isn't, and I think microsoft just haven't grasped that. Open source (which seems to be a phrase under constant re-interpretation), has one interesting attribute, only the fittest survive, not the 'richest'. Money has never equalled success in the FOSS world. Although it can help a truly good product get better, it can't save a bad one. This is entirely different to the closed source world, where money can indeed prop up crap software (IE anyone?).
SUSE has never been the best distro, and its not very populer among the hobbyist userbase. All it has going for it is that microsoft and Novell have an established history of working together, something microsoft don't have with any other linux distributor.
Microsoft had no choice but to pick SUSE, so they have to get what they can from this deal by way of leverage on the linux install base.
They have already proved themselves capable of throwing billions into enterprises that make no money, so the idea that they could push 'microsoft aproved' linux at a loss to corporations and reap benefits by being perceived as an aproved software portal for the corporate world in this new era is entirely plausible.
That would equal control, and that further means they can 'phase out' linux, because they control it, as it 'just isn't good enough'.
Alas, this is a house of cards, and it just won't work. The plain fact is that open source has never really been something one entity controls, so this deal with Novell will harm SUSE, but not gnu/linux as a whole. Microsofts real target is Red Hat, being as they are the major player in the corporate linux world, and Novell is as close as they can get to the Red Hat camp, close enough (they think) to harm its install base.
Yup, SUSE will be harmed, Red Hat may get pinched a bit, but FOSS is controlled by hundreds of thousands of developers, and will barely notice this event. Politics don't generally hurt hackers or prevent them from coding into the night, that's what mailing lists are for. You can't kill FOSS by finding bit of it and jumping up and down on it, and the open source world will always have a nasty habit of pulling a new unexpected innivation out that will deal a serious blow to any advance microsoft have made.
I won't be having anything to do with any novell products now, not that I did much already, I'd decided a long time back that SUSE didn't do linux the way I liked it.
The important deal to work on: GPLv3 (Score:3, Interesting)
While companies can work out their own deals, and they might be able to do naughty things while still complying with GPLv2, we should be looking at our big deal. The GPL is the closest thing the free software community has to a social contract. We should be looking into how to prevent such harm for v3 of the GPL [fsfe.org].
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http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/faq_opensour (Score:2)
Tis' better to own, than to invent.... (Score:2, Troll)
Microsoft gets ready to launch the new cash cow, while at the same time, Linux deals with a nice fat FUD sandwich for a year or so while all this is sorted out. When a company has enough cash to buy your very soul, no amount of criticism or complaining can substitute for competition.
A lot of time over the past 3 years that could have gone into inproving installs for new users, device drivers, and UI, has gone into endless chatter over the GPL and other issues that in
Suggestion for a SuSE replacement? (Score:1)
I like Kubuntu, but its treatment of root is a bit different than what most books describe. That's minor; I'm certainly willing to write some extra material for my students.
In any event, I'd like to know what people are switching t
To the author of this article.. (Score:1)
bad start... (Score:1)
Novell makes no admission that its Linux and open source offerings infringe on any other parties' patents.
And than a few lines later claims:
Wait. Didn't we just read that no such infringements exist?
Sorry, but I do not read such a claim from Novell. They refuse to admit infringements, but in my understanding, this is not the same. Novell's statement is standard comment to protect them against false claims, such as that there are no patent infri
Rant rant (Score:5, Interesting)
Then he goes on to say near the end:
However question #1 in the FAQ is: How is this agreement compatible with Novell's obligations under Section 7 of the GPL? and the reply is:
It also goes on to say that there was no threat of a law suit. so if he's going to call for lawyers to go after Novell for breaching the section 7 of the GPL.........maybe he should get some proof that they did?
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Um, no. At least not if it endangers fundamental values of the free software movement.
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On the more serious note, this is actually from the New Testament, and the New Testament is extreme. Just read through the Sermon on the Mount. It states that if you even think lustful thoughts towards another person, it's just as bad as having commited adultery. The New
OSS and MS (Score:1)
One of the facts about Suse/Novell is that they are 'Free' (as in speech) to do deals with 'every' ./ers arch enemy MS
You might not like the direction they are going in, but you are also 'Free' to take GPLd code and write your very own GNU/Linux distribution.
If, like me you have neither the time or skill to do that, then be grateful that there is wide choice of Free (beer/speech) distros out there for you to take your pick from. If you really like one and want to support their product and ethos, then yo
Ok, alternatives? (Score:2)
If, if, if... (Score:2)
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You ever notice how similar Outlook is to Groupwise?
-b.
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At least in Ubuntu 6.06, sudo su - and then passwd root allows you to set a login password for (and enable) the root user. Same with OS X which treats root in a similar manner.
-b.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
SUSE already lost me for other reasons (Score:2)
Back when Novell first acquired SUSE, there were a lot of people saying "Oh great, Novell gets t
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Perhaps the Linux mascot should be changed. Instead of a penguin, we could use a lemming.
Well, I guess I can kiss my karma goodbye, now.
Re:All right, all right we get the message already (Score:2)
Re: Suse and Microsoft (Score:2, Insightful)
(http://members.home.com/tannhaus)
I understand people hate Microsoft. But, how is this any different than the mono project and their microsoft deal?
Microsoft advertises on slashdot as well.
Microsoft is, in the end, just a company. It may be a monopoly, but it is just a company. It's not going to destroy linux if one company makes a deal with another one. Linux is an operating system that spans MANY companies. If anything, t
I guess SuSE is the new Caldera (Score:2)
But that certainly seems like a win/win for Microsoft.
heh (Score:2)
The only thing I can say is maybe Novell is licensing some tech to make Windows Apps run better on Linux through, maybe, say, Wine.
Oh, no, no they can't do that you'll yell.
Cedega does. There are parts of Wine that Cedega doesn't open source. I.E. the
Done! Ubuntu here we come baby! (Score:2)
I find this deal interesting (Score:2)
Already made the decision to leave SuSE... (Score:2)
I'm considering:
1) Debian
2) Ubuntu
3) Roll my own Linux Distro.
Later, GJC
I'd be seriously worried... (Score:2)
Let me put it this way; The only concrete reason anyone outside a corporation has to install Vista is for (new) games. For me anywayz, FreeBSD has pretty much everything else covered now...Seriously.
Only SUSE can give.... What? (Score:2)
YaST is available elsewhere..
The GNOME2/Nautilus desktop is available
Easy Samba, WiFi, LDAP, Windows Terminal Services, and other "office-y" stuff is available elsewhere..
Ubuntu, ubuntu, ubuntu, ubuntu. Debian, debian, debian, debian. CentOS, OpenSolaris, Gentoo, RHEL.
--
The only thing SUSE has going for it is the Novell support backing, and only corporate installations care about that. With the Oracle/RedHat support deal that factor carries less momentum
Marketing! (Score:2)
Scroll down to an ad for VS.NET, Microsoft pops into your mind once. Scroll thru this thread, and you've just spent a half hour singing "Micro-soft!" to yourself with every post you read.
Clever bastards.
Don't worry. Walk, don't run, from SUSE. (Score:2)
Um, hello. (Score:2)
Some of us don't want interoperability..
A large portion of the Linux community abandoned M$ and switched to Linux because we HATE M$.
Some of us worship the incompatibility of the two systems.
IMO it's the best thing about Linux..
Welcome to 2006 (Score:2)
... Quake3 ...
Er... is this post from 4 years ago when Quake 3 was actually released, or..?
I recently watched4 people in