Xandros signs up with Microsoft

June 4, 2007 Leave a comment

It looks like Xandros has signed a deal similar to the recent Microsoft Novell one. From the press release:

Today Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Linux platform provider Xandros Inc announced a broad collaboration agreement based on a set of technical, business, marketing and intellectual property commitments. These commitments provide customers with enhanced interoperability, more effective systems management solutions, and intellectual property assurances, all of which extend a bridge between open source and commercial software and deliver customers real value in mixed systems environments.

For Xandros, the agreement marks a major milestone in its vision of delivering end-to-end Linux desktop and server solutions as well as Windows(R) and Linux cross-platform management and interoperability tools.

“Companies today are running a mixture of Linux and Windows systems,” said Andreas Typaldos, chief executive officer of Xandros. “Cross-platform data centres are a reality. To meet evolving customer needs, vendors need to recognise the value of sharing intellectual property, developing more interoperable solutions, and providing management tools that are familiar and easy to use.”

— Intellectual property assurance. Through the agreement, Microsoft will
make available patent covenants for Xandros customers. These covenants
will provide customers with confidence that the Xandros technologies
they use and deploy in their environments are compliant with
Microsoft’s intellectual property. By putting a framework in place to
share intellectual property, Xandros and Microsoft can speed the
development of interoperable solutions.

— Microsoft sales and marketing support. The companies are committing to
a set of sales and marketing efforts to promote the output of their
technical efforts. As part of this effort, Microsoft will now endorse
Xandros Server and Desktop as a preferred Linux distribution due to
Xandros’ efforts to establish rich interoperability and deliver IP
assurance to its customers. Also, a specialised team of Microsoft
staff will be trained on the value propositions of this collaboration
to customers and channel partners. Xandros will also become a member
of the Microsoft Interop Vendor Alliance.

It should be interesting to see how the community responds to the one. Xandros hasn’t exactly been able to get much traction in the marketplace and this may very well have just been a move to stay alive. Details are a bit light at the moment, but I’d guess we’ll be seeing more very soon. Stay tuned.

–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Microsoft, Novell, Open Source

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

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

Nortel Strong Arms Open Source Vendor

May 25, 2007 Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe that stories like this are still so commonplace in our industry:

What happens when a VoIP blog (yours truly) writes about the fact that a former Nortel subsidiary (Blade Network Technologies) went looking for a new phone system, chose an open-source Asterisk-based solution from Fonality instead of using Nortel’s own PBX and then agreed to go on record on the VoIP & Gadgets blog about why they made such a shocking decision?

A) Nothing – it’s a VoIP blog – who cares? Nortel is an $11 billion dollar company that certainly doesn’t read blogs for their news.
B) Nortel reads the blog post, is a little peeved, but other than some emails sent internally, no one outside Nortel would ever know they were annoyed.
C) A Nortel Board Member flips out over the article, contacts Blade and then pressures Blade to return the Fonality system and have Fonality print a retraction to the blog article (and the subsequent press release).

If you answered C) congratulations, we have a winner!david vs. goliath nortel vs fonality Yes, it’s true – and in true David (Fonality) vs. Goliath (Nortel) fashion it would appear that we have Nortel peeved that one of their former subsidiaries chose an open-source IP-PBX (PBXtra from Fonality) and who had the audacity to speak to the press about why they made such a decision. Why, the nerve!

Now, I can see why Nortel wouldn’t be happy about the turn of events involved, or the fact that their market share is rapidly slipping (and has been for some time). Actions like this (read the article for in-depth detail) aren’t the way to fix the problem, though. Having a product that is at least good enough that your subsidiaries choose it is a start. It’s behavior like this that make the transparency and business models involved in Open Source so compelling for customers.

–jeremy

Filed under Open Source

OSBC Slides Posted

May 25, 2007 Leave a comment

If you weren’t able to attend OSBC, Matt has already started posting some of the keynote slides.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. The following is what happened to the performance of the E*Trade platform as they switched to Linux. They did the roll out in 2 phases, which accounts for the bump in the dip. In addition to the performance benefit, they saved roughly $16 million dollars. Not too shabby. It should be noted that during the recent February market dip, E*Trade was one of the only online brokerage sites that did not have performance issues. Lee directly attributed that to the use of Open Source.

Picture 7

–jeremy

Filed under Open Source, OSBC

Novell, EFF Announce Patent Reform Partnership

May 24, 2007 Leave a comment

We were all quick to deride Novell when we perceived they did something that was not in the best interest of the community. I think it’s only fair that we point out when they do something that should be perceived as good for the community. I think they just have:

With all the controversy about software patents in the Linux technology space of late, it may come as a surprise to some people that one Linux company has today announced they will take unprecedented measures to assist the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in reforming the current patent system and eliminating bad software patents.

That company is Novell.

Novell made the announcement during a panel discussion at the Open Source Business Conference entitled “Is the Novell-Microsoft Deal Good for Open Source?”–a panel which included Novell’s Director of Marketing Justin Steinman and Sam Ramji, Director, Linux Labs, of Microsoft.

“EFF is partnering with Novell to try to get rid of software patents that are hurting innovation all over the world,” stated Shari Steele, Executive Director of the EFF in an interview prior to the panel session.

In essence, Novell is committed to working with the EFF to improve patent quality, while at the same time work to lobby with government agencies to reform existing patent policies and litigation, according to Nat Friedman. Novell’s Chief Technology and Strategy Officer for Open Source. Specifically, Novell will assist the EFF in two ways.

As previously mentioned, I was at that session and it was very interesting. There are two basic pieces to this agreement. The first is that they will work with and support the EFF’s existing Patent Busting Project, which targets existing patents that cover technology concepts that are perhaps too fundamental or already have prior art. The second piece will have Novell working with the EFF and legislators to lobby for patent reform, initially in the US, but also branching out to Europe, where patent problems continue to arise. The EFF and Novell will also work with standards groups to assist in patent reform. The EFF has confirmed that this is the first time a corporate entity has publicly thrown in this level of support for the EFF on the patent issue. Kudos to Novell. I’m surprised Nat didn’t play this up a bit more at OSBC (has was not on the panel for this session, but was in the crowd and was called upon by Justin to answer a question).

With the Microsoft-Novell deal slated to become public knowledge, with redactions, before the end of the month we will soon be able to put some if the previously missing puzzle together and see what implications there really are. One thing I think Novell has learned here is that increased transparency really would have eased this whole process. Let’s hope that’s not a lesson they soon forget.

–jeremy

Filed under 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

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