There is a light that never goes out

June 1, 2007 Leave a comment

A good post by Jeremy Allison about “Intellectual Property” in the software industry:

But “Intellectual Property” is a weasel phrase. It covers several different things, each of which is treated very differently in terms of property rights. For software this can mean trade secrets, copyright or patents. Let’s look at each in turn and see how Microsoft accounting can get creative and determine how much we all owe them for being presumptuous enough to be using Free Software not developed by them.

Much of the post centers around patents and why they make very little sense for software. Indeed, 20 years is an eternity in the context of computer software, so a patent is roughly analogous to a lifetime monopoly. When is the last time you heard a software engineer who was trying to solve a difficult problem say he was going to see if there were any expired patents that covered the issue so he could glean some insight into a solution. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But adding knowledge to humanity is the stated purpose of the patent system. It’s abundantly clear this isn’t happening. Hopefully one of the current reform initiatives will make some headway. With the amount of lobbying dollars going toward keeping the (broken) status quo, it’s certainly going to be an uphill battle.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Open Source

Ubuntu Live and CrossOver Linux Discounts

May 31, 2007 2 Comments

Would you like to attend the upcoming Ubuntu Live Conference? As a media sponsor, I’m happy to announce that LQ can over you a 35% discount. Simply used the code ubu07ucm when registering and the discount will be automatically applied. I’m looking forward to attending Ubuntu Live (and OSCON, which starts the very next day).

While on the topic of discounts, the recent LQ CrossOver promotion has been so successful that I’d like to extend it another 10 days. Until June 10th you can get 20% any CrossOver Linux product by making your purchase here and using LQCO20 as a discount code.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Open Source, Ubuntu

Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit

May 28, 2007 Leave a comment

I’ve finally booked the trip to Mountain View for the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. I’ll be getting in on Tuesday night and will be staying at the Wild Palms Hotel, if anyone wants to meet for a drink/chat. It looks like quite a few attendees are staying at the Wild Palms, so it should be interesting. Really looking forward to the summit.

–jeremy

Filed under Google, Linux, LinuxQuestions.org

Novell Goes Public with MS Patent Agreement Documents

May 27, 2007 Leave a comment

After a delay due to a stock option investigation, Novell has just filed its 10K. The filing includes, as attachments, documents from the recent Microsoft deal:

The text of the 144-page 10-K filing does not get into the specifics of the Microsoft deal, but it does include, subject to some redactions, the full three Microsoft agreement documents: the second amended and restated technical collaboration agreement, the first amended and restated business collaboration agreement and the patent cooperation agreement.

One of the most notable things about the report, according to Pamela Jones’ Groklaw Web site, is that it explains that Microsoft may be forced to stop distributing SUSE Linux coupons if the current text of the third draft of the GNU GPL (General Public License) 3 is included in the final license.

“If the final version of GPLv3 contains terms or conditions that interfere with our agreement with Microsoft or our ability to distribute GPLv3 code, Microsoft may cease to distribute SUSE Linux coupons in order to avoid the extension of its patent covenants to a broader range of GPLv3 software recipients, we may need to modify our relationship with Microsoft under less advantageous terms than our current agreement, or we may be restricted in our ability to include GPLv3 code in our products, any of which could adversely affect our business and our operating results,” the Novell filing said.

“In such a case, we would likely explore alternatives to remedy the conflict, but there is no assurance that we would be successful in these efforts,” the filing said.

That may explain why Microsoft has gone on the offensive about the GPLv3 during the past few weeks, claiming that free and open-source software infringes on 235 of its patents and directing its ire at the upcoming open-source license.

Keep in mind that the attachments do have redactions, which is standard operating procedure for releases like this. More details can be found on Groklaw.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Novell, Open Source

Second Day OSBC Wrap up

May 23, 2007 Leave a comment

The OSBC is now officially over and here’s my second day wrap up. The opening keynote consisted of Rob Curley, Marten Mickos and Lee Thompson. I had never seen Rob speak before, but he is extremely entertaining and had some very good information. He maintained that what him and his team were able to accomplish in Kansas would not have been possible without Open Source. Marten gave an update on where MySQL is and the variety of models he thinks can be successful in OSS. Lee gave a very good overview of how Open Source is being utilized at E*Trade. During the recent February market dip, they were one of the only brokers to not suffer performance problems. He attributed that to the use of Open Source directly.

How Big is the Exit? What is an Open Source Business Worth in 2007 and Beyond?
* There was a consensus that the public markets for Open Source companies are highly dependent on Red Hat. This is from a perspective that if Red Hat were to falter, the Open Source image would be sufficiently tarnished that other OSS companies would not receive new funding and valuations in general would suffer. I wrote about this a couple years ago. I think as time passes, this becomes less and less the case.
* Investors and VCs really seem to like to “subscription” model in OSS companies. I think it’s a very good model, but am less convinced it’s the one true path (one insinuated that OSS companies that tried something different were pretty much idiots for instance).
* With OSS you need to think about your customers with razor sharp focus. Find their pain points, solve their problems and you will be handsomely rewarded.

Is the Novell-Microsoft deal good for open source?
As you can imagine, this session was standing room only. Not hard to guess what the participants opinions were. LWN editor Jon – Bad. Novell rep Justin and Microsoft rep Sam – Good. The one surprise may have been Allison (if you don’t read her blog), who said it would probably be irrelevant. Some notes:
* Ballmer’s comments were definitely detrimental to the acceptance of the deal.
* If the deal would have been with someone else besides Microsoft, say IBM, it would barely have been news.
* Microsoft was the number one channel for SLES in Q1 2007.
* Microsoft has only gone on the offensive in patent litigation 2 times in its history. They are the defendant in about 30 cases or so in any one given point in time.
* Is Microsoft now a Linux distributor?
* AIG and BoA reps both seemed uninterested in the deal, saying it did not impact their buying decision.
* Would Microsoft consider joining the OIN?
* Customers are almost universally telling Microsoft that they want heterogeneous environments. 100%-anything seems to be a thing of the past

Community Development: Business Development for the 21st Century
* Open Source in a large way was started by disenfranchised developers
* For OSS companies, community management is about facilitation.
* Google lawyers actually have an SLA requirement for responding internally in some cases. Developers are that important.
* Many OSS communities are going from developers only to developers and users.
* The time and cost in fostering a community is easy to underestimate.

Overall a very good show, one in which I learned a good deal.

Note: For all these OSBC updates, items with * are not necessarily my opinions, just a summary of things that were said by various panelists.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Novell, Open Source, OSBC

"Is the Novell-Microsoft deal good for open source?" panel question

May 23, 2007 Leave a comment

I’ll post a full overview of OSBC day two later, but the “Is the Novell-Microsoft deal good for open source?” panel went over time and I didn’t have a chance to ask the question I had. From the panel, Justin from Novell indicated that Microsoft was the number one channel for SLES in 2007 Q1. My question is: do you think having one of your major competitors (one who is much bigger than you no less, and has a track record with these things) be your number one channel is (1) sustainable (2) sane (3) almost an admission of failure in being able to effectively compete in the marketplace on your own.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Novell, Open Source

Closing notes on the first day of OSBC

May 22, 2007 1 Comment

Overall I have to say I’ve really enjoyed the first day of OSBC. I’m getting an entirely different perspective on many things, which is good. It’s easy to get a bit insular when you are only exposed to a single side of an argument. After my last post, I noticed many more “community” members too, which is great. It’s amazing how often a few general themes have been brought up, even in sessions with widely disparate topics. A few notes from attended sessions:

What’s Next: Emerging Opportunities + Strategies
* It’s interesting that many Open Source projects do very little or no marketing, but have extremely powerful and well known brands. That’s one of the power of ubiquity.
* The value that can be derived from non-paying users should not be underestimated.
* Transparency, at all levels, is critical in an Open Source community. So is respecting user privacy and data.
* One reason cost per customer acquisition is less expensive is due to customer self-selection through quality experiences via gratis downloads.

A New Breed of P&L: The Open Source Business Financial Model
Larry gave an interesting look at the current state of Open Source software in relation to what he calls the golden age of software (mid80’s through late 90’s). His assertion is that things, such as the percentage of revenue spent on sales and marketing, have gotten way out of whack in the software industry. Open Source may be bringing us back to that golden age. Red Hat was one of his primary examples. More data will be available in the coming years, as the current crop of Open Source companies have a chance to mature.

Copyleft Business Models: Why it’s Good Not to Be Your Competitor’s Free Lunch
Eben is such a phenomenal speaker that I really can’t do this talk justice with a simple summary. However, here are some highlights:

* When he worked at IBM, software was a free lunch… used to sell hardware. Customers often submitted patches with their bug reports. For a variety of reasons this has changed in the current day and age, much to the determent of general software quality.
* An example of this is the comparison of how far hardware has comes since 1979. When IBM had 29G is took massive space and was very expensive. Now it takes up 2.5″ and is $40. Software on the other hand has almost become worse. He describes the situation as deplorable.
* An analogy for what the lack of standards can do. During the civil war, the north had a standard gauge for railroad ties. The south did not. This meant items often had to be unloaded just to be reloaded in the south. This became crippling and is an example of how much work can be wasted when there are no open and available standards.
* In his opinion, community adds a huge amount of value to a project, for a variety of reasons.
* The next draft of the GPLv3 should be Apache license compatible.
* With regard to the recent speculation about Microsoft, the GPLv3 and the fact that the Novell coupons do not expire; he can not say as much as he’d like, due to an NDA (one he thought would have expired by now, but hasn’t due to a Novell SEC filing delay). What he did say was that you need look no further than his actions and the actions of Microsoft to see what the Microsoft opinion on the matter is. He asserts they are quite concerned.

More to come tomorrow. Now to partake in the very nice spread that has been offered to all attendees.

–jeremy

Filed under FSF, GPLv3, Linux, Microsoft, Novell, Open Source, OSBC

In San Francisco for OSBC

May 21, 2007 Leave a comment

Landed in San Francisco earlier today and spent most of the day walking around. The OSBC starts tomorrow morning. My recent post on Dell and Ubuntu seems to have gotten a fair bit of attention while I was traveling. If I get any further information I’ll be sure to sure it.

–jeremy

Filed under Dell, Linux, Open Source, OSBC, Ubuntu

Dell announces the models for Ubuntu

May 18, 2007 19 Comments

I just got the following email forwarded to me by a Dell employee:

We will be launching a Linux based OS (Ubuntu) on the E520, 1505 and XPS 410 starting next Thursday, 5/24. We expect these systems to be less than 1% of our OS mix for the entire year which is ~20,000 systems annually. Please cover the huddle deck below with your team by EOB Sunday. If any questions come up, please let me know so I can address them before launch.

The goal of launching Linux is to continue to give our customers more choices to customize their new Dell. Providing more options to our Linux Enthusiast customer group will hopefully create even more Raving Fans!!

It was also noted that people within Dell can now officially start discussing the desktop Linux situation with customers. It’s great to see this initiative being followed through on so quickly. I was hoping for a bit more than three models, but what’s more important right now is how those three models are actually rolled out. The long term implications for Linux on the desktop in the mainstream here are huge. Kudos to Dell for finally making the leap. With less than 1% of sales at stake here though, it’s possible Dell doesn’t have the incentive to put a huge effort behind this. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on the roll out and will certainly be posting more on the topic. I’d like to thank Rick, who forwarded this to me.

–jeremy

Filed under Dell, Linux, Open Source, Ubuntu

Migrating to Ubuntu Linux from Microsoft Windows

May 16, 2007 2 Comments

It’s a great reminder that we’re making real progress to see stories like this:

Four years ago I tried about a dozen Linux distributions, to see if they were ready for an ordinary user to install as an escape from the Windows world. None of the distros performed well enough for me to recommend them to a non-geek unless they were going to hire someone to install it. After hearing Dell’s recent announcement that it will sell computers with pre-installed Ubuntu Linux, I decided to see if Ubuntu was user-friendly.

So, what was her experience now?

Conclusion

I think Ubuntu Linux is definitely ready for almost anyone with a Windows system who is tired of having their computer infested with spyware and viruses. It is also a way to avoid Microsoft’s “activation” demands. It’s free! It’s good! It works!

I will continue to use Windows for writing because OpenOffice.org does not have a feature I need. OpenOffice developers: Remember my enhancement request from 2000 or 2001 asking for an outline feature? The feature with more votes than any other feature request? Yes, that one! Your unwillingness or inability to give OpenOffice.org an outline view that works just like Microsoft Word’s outline is all that is keeping me from turning my Microsoft Windows partition into blank oxide.

That’s right – her only show stopper was the lack of an outline view in oowriter. To be fair, that’s not even directly Linux related (not to say that it isn’t an issue). Remember, Windows doesn’t even come with a word processor. Congratulations Ubuntu.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Open Source, Ubuntu

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