In a somewhat ironic turn of events, Microsoft is being forced to change how ActiveX works in order to avoid a software patent held by Eolas. So much for proprietary software indemnifying you from patent issues. As a heavy user of the web and a proponent of open standards, I'm really happy to see anything that decreases the use of ActiveX. It's insecure and only works in IE, but that doesn't stop people from using it for some reason. On the flip side though, this is yet another example of why software patents are bad. I'd like to think a light would go on at some companies when a system they support is used against them in a very questionable way, but from some reason I don't think that's going to happen. It should be interesting to watch on April 11th to see how the browser update really does change peoples perspectives on things. Will they start to learn why open standards are good and why software patents are bad? Very unlikely. Will they not care about the technical/legal stuff and simply seek out a solution that just works? Much more likely, which means it could be a good day for Firefox.
–jeremy
Microsoft, ActiveX, Patents, Eolas, Internet Explorer, Firefox
Archive for March, 2006
When I saw the title of this article, I was quite interested to see what Bill Hilf had to say on the topic. As Director of Platform Technology Strategy he's in charge of the Microsoft LinuxLab, which means he must have a pretty interesting perspective on things. Unfortunately, the article was extremely light on what he thinks about Linux or about what Microsoft is actually doing with Linux. It does get a little into what they are doing with Open Source though, which is also a topic of interest for me. The first thing that caught my eye was his reason for pulling out out LinuxWorld AU – “an internal meeting that could not be moved”. Considering his job function, that must be a pretty important meeting. I found his statement about the size of his department quite telling also. “It's a small, experienced and focused team – it usually is around eight to 10 people at any given time.” Reading between the lines a bit, I'd say the department must have extremely high turnover. To be fair, I can certainly see why. The two questions he seemed to dodge, “How does Microsoft plan to make money from open source and Linux?” and “How much does Microsoft view open source and Linux as competition?” were the two I'd liked to have seen answered the most. One thing that comes up in the article is something I've seen said by multiple people from Microsoft from multiple disparate department, both on and off the record. Microsoft is learning from the OSS development model itself and are indeed using some of the methodologies and parts of the paradigm to improve their internal development process. More proof (although at this point I don't even think more proof is necessary) that the model demonstrably produces better code. Even though you know it, it's always great to see it in print in an interview like this. I think an open dialog between Bill and the Linux team at Microsoft could be quite beneficial for all involved. If anyone from Microsoft reading this interested in making it happen, feel free to contact me.
–jeremy
Microsoft, Linux, Open Source, Hilf, MSFT, Windows
The recently announced Windows Vista delays are certainly causing quite a stir, which was expected. The amount of stir being caused within the company itself though seems to be greater than I'd have anticipated. Usually, most Microsoft employees are fairly good at backing company decisions, but many seem to be getting quite frustrated at this point. Some are even calling for exec level firings, which to be honest seem reasonable at this point. They have dropped the ball multiple times now while getting compensated quite nicely. The reality here is that Microsoft has put themselves in a very tight spot. They have really hyped Vista, so when it does come out it has to be good. If it's not the stock price will suffer as will the companies long term reputation. At this point in the game, they can't afford that. I'm sure that's why the painful decision to delay was made. But, the longer they delay, the weaker they seem. The rumblings about whether they can actually produce will get louder and the stock price will suffer as will the companies long term reputation. The proverbial chink in the armor is growing. Now, don't get me wrong, when Vista does finally ship it is going to see wide adoption. Consumer OEM installs will come first and with SP1 corporate America will follow. Microsoft and Windows aren't irrelevant, despite what you might read or want to believe. The marketshare is just too big. But, how many more delays and under delivered releases can they stand before the current status quo changes? It's a very tenuous time for Microsoft on both the Windows and Office fronts. The day when you can walk into a CIO's office and ask “what would it take to replace Windows on the desktop” without getting a blank stare are on the horizon…and I'd guess it's going to come faster than Microsoft had anticipated. Luckily for them, they're diversifying like crazy these days. Let's start a pool for what year neither Windows or Office will be the biggest revenue generators for them company will be 
On a somewhat related note, Scoble points out another case of journalistic stupidity, which is something I've covered here time and time again. If Microsoft could rewrite 60% of the entire codebase in that time frame do you think they'd have delayed the product this many times? That's just nonsensical, but it sure did make headlines.
–jeremy
Vista, Windows Vista, Windows, Microsoft, Scoble
It looks like Microsoft has once again delayed the general release of Windows Vista. The bad news for them on this one? They are going to now miss another Christmas season, where it's reported that up to 30% of all PC's for the year are sold. This gives Linux (and Apple with OS X) more time to improve their product and gain some more footing before the marking blitz swings into full gear. This had to be a really painful decision and leads be to presume that something was seriously wrong with the product. OR, maybe Microsoft has learned from past mistakes – anything is possible I guess. Either way, this really is a critical release for them. After working really hard to convince both companies and consumers that XP was the way to go, they now have to convince them that Vista is a compelling upgrade. The easy part for them though, is that a short time after Vista is released it will be the default preinstall option for almost any PC you see in any store. It's almost hard to fail with that setup, isn't it. If the preinstall situation wasn't like it was (and that's a big if…I know), the computer market really would be such a different animal. How much longer can they keep the kung-fu death grip on the OEM market is the question that Microsoft has to be asking themselves. Once they aren't the default no choice option, they're going to be in a world that looks so much different…a world where there is competition that's based on features, security and stability. At least they'll have their marketing budget to fall back on.
–jeremy
Microsoft, Windows, Vista, Linux
Ouch. Gael has confirmed that he has been fired from Mandriva. This has to be extremely tough for him…I can't imagine getting “fired” from LQ. He started the distribution and co-founded the company, so it's fair to say that without him there would be no Mandriva. The reason given by the current CEO was workforce reduction due to poor financial results. In reality, I'd guess there is more to it though, and it appears Gael was also asked to step down last year. Taking a distro that has recently had a bit of trouble in the community department and getting rid of the guy that clearly cares the most about the community is an odd choice, but I think this is just another sign that FOSS is going into more and more corporate directions. I've had the opportunity to speak with Gael on multiple occasions is he really is a stand up guy. I wish him luck with Ulteo and whatever else he decides to do.
–jeremy
Mandriva, Linux, Mandrake, Ulteo
An interesting interview with Michael Dell about the Dell “Linux desktop strategy”. The fact that he mentions Distrowatch by name means he clearly is following what is going on in the Linux world, even if only at a high level. He mentions the failed attempt Dell made back in 2000-2001 to sell Linux on the desktop. That was a long time ago though, and both Linux and the market have changed a ton since then. While he makes some valid points, his main grip seems to be the shear number of Linux distributions available. While I agree that we need to consolidate in some areas if we want mass market acceptance (search for my past comments on whether we want to make these technically poor decisions for the sole sake of gaining acceptance or not), the reality is that a vast majority of distribution are very niche. Picking say two distributions (which is less than the number of Windows versions they support) would allow you to serve a vast majority of the client base you are targeting. The “Linux Community” isn't the target base here, don't forget – the Dell potential customer is. Much of the Linux community would never buy a Dell anyway. Beyond just that, ensuring Dell ran on those two distributions would ensure that the Linux kernel could support Dell hardware, giving those who wanted to run other distributions the choice. It would also compel hardware manufacturers to either offer open drivers or at least release specs for others to do so. My guess here is that Dell wants to try to make the Linux community happy while they dip their toes back in, while also not making Microsoft feel threatened. On that note, I find it hilarious that he closes with “Microsoft has not talked to us about Linux. If they did, I wouldn't care. It's none of their business”. Now, I find it nearly impossible that Linux has not come up in the price negotiations that Dell and Microsoft obviously have for Windows, but the fact that he publicly said something like this shows you how much things have changed. Just a few short years ago he'd not dared talk such blasphemy in public. We're continuing to make strides…slowly but surely.
–jeremy
Dell, Linux, Microsoft
That's the rumor, based on comments made by Andreas Pleschek. From the article:
Andreas Pleschek also told that IBM has canceled their contract with Microsoft as of October this year. That means that IBM will not use Windows Vista for their desktops. Beginning from July, IBM employees will begin using IBM Workplace on their new, Red Hat-based platform. Not all at once – some will keep using their present Windows versions for a while. But none will upgrade to Vista.
We've known that IBM has been eying Linux on the desktop for some time, and this may be step one. It's clear they'll never be able to completely eliminate Vista from their campus, as they develop too many apps that will need to be tested for deployment on it. If you look at what they are doing from a platform perspective though, it brilliant. What they are doing with Workplace looks extremely powerful. First, they are turning things like Notes into an Eclipse plugin. This will allow Notes to run on any platform that Eclipse runs on. But it gets better. With Firefox as a browser and OOo as an office suite, the whole package is extremely cross platform. Want to run Windows on your desktops and Linux on your servers? Fine – they can help you. Want to then later migrate from Windows on your desktops to Linux? IBM can help you do that to. Selling you migration services, licensing and support along the way. They can help you know and help you later…collecting some additional cash all along the way. IBM really seems to get not only where the future is heading, but at the same time understanding the realities of today.
Andreas also mentions that they are utilizing the lessons they learned about Open Source development procedures for internal proprietary projects, especially when it comes to integrating multiple acquired products. More proof the the Open Source paradigm really does produce better code and enable developers to do more. With products like Workplace and applications like Activity Explorer on the horizon, it will be very interesting to see where IBM can take Linux on the Enterprise desktop.
–jeremy
IBM, Vista, Workplace, Open Source
In this perspective article, Jonathan Zuck makes a couple assertions, at least one of which I disagree with and at least one of which I agree with. The articles raises into question whether the GPL V3 has gone too far, which given the comments from multiple promininent Open Source leaders, is a very fair question to raise. It does it with that kind of attention grabbing journalistic panache, though, that you wonder if it was just written to get eyeballs. Not being familiar with Mr Zuck, I found it interesting that he is the “president of the Association for Competitive Technology”, which according to Wikipedia is:
The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) is an American technology lobby group. ACT was founded in 1998 in response to the Microsoft antitrust case. Its chief goals are
1. to limit government involvement in technology (such as antitrust actions or open source requirements); and
2. to support strong intellectual property rights in software.
Currently, ACT is lobbying strongly against the Massachusetts endorsement of the OpenDocument standards.
Now, that certainly doesn't make him automatically wrong, but the fact that the president of a association that lobbies against Open Source finds fault in the GPL V3 is hardly news, is it?
–jeremy
GPL, GPLv3, Open Source
It's official – LinuxQuestions.org will once again be a .org Pavilion participant at the LinuxWorld Expo in Boston. We just got the word! At this point it will be at least myself, Robin and John. I'll post more details soon, but I wanted to let everyone know that we're definitely in. Looking forward to the show, see you all there.
–jeremy
LinuxWorld, Linux, Open Source
“Interviews with Ronald Lewis” has just posted an interview with yours truly. I met Ronald at the SCALE 4X top of the Radisson party. He's just starting out and it was a pleasure to be one of his first 10 interviews. He's getting quality names like Mark Spencer (a fellow SCALE 4X attendee) and I wish him the best of luck. I'd like to apologize in advance to Brad for completely and utterly goofing on his last name. Considering I wrote an article for Linux Magazine about memcached just yesterday, I'm claiming temporary insanity. The good news Brad is that your name is correct in the “Tech Support” article.
–jeremy
jeremy, Linux, SCALE4X, memcached, Open Source
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