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- no more cable tv for me. Saving $53/month!
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Nov
3
More Updates on the Novell and Microsoft Deal
Category: FSF, M$, News, Novell | 
2 Comments
Eben Moglen, a lawyer for the Free Software Foundation, remarks that the new deal may violate Section 7 of the GPL! So now you see that the stakes in the GPLv3 talks are very high! The GPLv2 may indeed be our saviour against Microsoft’s tyranies, but more on that momentarily! Mr. Moglen specifically comments:
“If you make an agreement which requires you to pay a royalty to anybody for the right to distribute GPL software, you may not distribute it under the GPL,” Moglen told CNET News.com Thursday. Section 7 of the GPL “requires that you have, and pass along to everybody, the right to distribute software freely and without additional permission.”
And, it seems that Microsoft wants to play the role of the mafia, asking for money to protect other Linux distros against being sued by MS for violating patents. “You might want to buy our ‘insurance policy’, it’s a dangerous town,” he would say in a gangster movie. In reality he said:
“If a customer says, ‘Look, do we have liability for the use of your patented work?’ Essentially, If you’re using non-SUSE Linux, then I’d say the answer is yes,”
and
Competing Linux vendors “are certainly welcome to get involved to quickly provide these covenants not to sue,”
Both quotes courtesy of this eWeek article.
On Open Sources, Matt Assay points out:
- Microsoft wasn’t going to sue Novell, anyway.
A little remarked, but still true fact is that Novell has long held patents that go to the heart of Microsoft’s Office business. Whatever saber rattling Microsoft might do about Linux, it knows that Novell has a great “counter argument.” This announcement was little more than public acknowledgment of an uneasy truce. And it’s a truce that helps Red Hat as much as it does Novell..
- The patent protection applies to Red Hat, whatever Ballmer might say. Specifically, he said:
“Novell is acting as a proxy for its customers, and only its customers. If they (businesses) want patent peace and interoperability, then they’ll have to look to Suse Linux.”
Given that most of the code in SUSE Linux is (gasp!) exactly the same as in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, it’s hard to see what lawsuit Microsoft could launch against Red Hat (or Ubuntu, or Debian, or….) that wouldn’t land on Novell’s SUSE Linux, as well. So they won’t. It’s a clever gimmick, but only that.
Finally, in this article, Red Hat expresses frustration and anger over Novell selling their soul.
So, this should tell you a few very important things!
1) Licenses are a PITA, but they are necessary! Without the GPL, we’d be sunk! The choice of the license matters too, as a BSD license would not have offered this level of protection.
2)Microsoft’s racketeering should prove, once and for all, that Microsoft is pure evil - just like a mafia! Gates, with his foundation, may be a nice guy, but the company he co-founded is seriously lacking in any kind of ethics or morals. They truly disgust me. Of course, they funded the SCO case, so what could you expect?
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Nov
3
Gay Pastor Confesses?
Category: News, Politics, Religion | 4 Comments
It was just an audio footnote on NPR’s story, but he has confessed to his church that some of the allegations are true.
This story should remind people why religion and politics shouldn’t be mixed. This guy wanted to be all big, calling into the White House and stuff and he wanted to support and anti-gay amendment. Now, the whole world gets to watch his fall. It always makes me sad when religious leaders get caught up in stuff like this because, as a religious person myself, it makes it seem as though all Christians are hypocritical or something. Sure, even Christians, sin, but the cliche is true - the bigger you are, the harder you fall. If this guy was just some regular local preacher, this would just be a Colorado thing instead of a National issue.
Sad day indeed. Well, if you aren’t too cynical, pray for his family because he has kids and you can bet the other kids will be ruthless in persecuting them. All boys call other boys’ dads wimps and gay and whatever, but this time they have the news on their side.
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Nov
3
Novell Sells out….
Category: M$, News, Novell | Leave a Comment
So, by now this is a little older news, but I wanted to wait for some more information before blogging. Novell has signed a deal with the devil, I mean Microsoft. When I first heard the story yesterday I thought, “OH sh$t! It’s embrace and extend and it’s with Linux!” Novell’s Press Release spun it as a positive thing for Linux. In reality, if you pay attention for the words, their point is that this partnership is good for Novell and Suse Linux, not all Linux users. I could have said, “Well, at least we have Red Hat in the business spaces to keep things going well.” But, no, Oracle had to botch that up last week. One of the biggest steps backwards this agreement takes, is that now Novell is support Microsoft’s Office XML format. NO NO NO! We were supposed to be going towards OPEN standards! You know, like the IEEE promotes! Why? Because we all know that proprietary standards can really cause things to get locked up when the proprietary vendor stops supporting it. But then again, maybe Novell doesn’t know this since it promoted Netware and other such proprietary produces before trading its stripes for Linux.
But then again, Novell has been a thorn in everyone’s side for a while. For example, developing GLX on their own and then putting it out there, instead of doing open development like a good Linux company. The outcome? Redhat and others are forced to fork into AIGLX since they didn’t have a say in GLX. I can only hope that the power of the GPL can keep Novell’s faustian bargain from shooting us all in the foot!
For another person’s view of Novell’s mistakes, check out Novell-Microsoft: What They Aren’t Telling You , by Bruce Perens, a very respected Open Source movement Guru.
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Nov
3
A Pastor with ties to the White House, Republicans, and Anti-Gay Marriage stuff in Colorado has been accused of having an affair with a gay man. Now, the elections are just 4 days away, so the first thing I thought was - this is TOO perfect. This has to have been made up to defame the guy in the hopes of throwing off the “Values Voters” who vote for Republicans. After all, if they aren’t practicing what they preach, why not vote for Democrats? Even just saying he had a heterosexual affair would be bad, as he is a Pastor and is supposed to be setting an example. But it has happened before.
At this point it is just an accusation, and it may be false. You may point to the fact that he has campaigned very heavily against Gay Marriage. Why would a secretly gay man be against Gay Marriage? Well, why would Mark Foley be against pedophiles? He did a lot of influential campaign work against pedophiles and then we find him exchanging dirty emails with under-aged pages. So, the Pastor may be against gay marriage for the same psychological reason. Or he may feel it is a penance for his gay behavior.
Whatever the fallout is, it’s not expected to do much in Colorado where the Democrats already had a huge lead.
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Nov
3
gNewSense, a TRUE GNU/Linux System
Category: FSF, Linux, ubuntu | Leave a Comment
So you thought Debian was pretty anal about free software did you? Well you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, but the Free Software Foundation is very serious (and extreme) in their position of what constitutes free software. Although this has alienated some, I think that a certain amount of what they do is necessary because the forces of Evil in the World as pulling just as hard in the other direction. (eg Trusted Computing, DRM, etc) Well, RMS likes to get into quibbles with Linux distros over the fact that they don’t call them GNU/Linux systems when a large portion of important programs (GCC, for example!) come from the GNU project. So, they decided to play on Linux’s turf. (instead of finishing their own kernel, HERD) Using the power of the GPL (which the FSF is in charge of), they forked a Debian/Ubuntu mix of Linux which is 100% free! That’s right, forget the little fights over Firefox/IceWeasel. gNewSense (nuisance? the first part is creative pun on GNU, but the overall word may or may not be what they were looking for) is a Linux distribution where ALL of the software has the sources available. Anything available only in binaries (eg nVidia/ATI drivers) are nowhere to be found!
Check out the gNewSense press release here.
Get an installable Live CD here.
This is certainly one way for RMS and his crowd to prove how usable/popular a PURELY, 100% free distro would be. While I agree that they are wonderful ideals, certain websites only offer MP3s and I can’t use neat-o graphics like Compiz without the nVidia drivers.
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Nov
3
Getting close with a Spoonbill
Category: Photography | Leave a Comment
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