[PLUG] Novell and Linux

Jeme A Brelin jeme at brelin.net
Fri Nov 7 12:58:01 UTC 2003


On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, John Telford wrote:
> The Novell services stack is mature.  Running it on Linux offers
> Corporate America a way to begin weaning themselves from Microsoft.
> Starting with eDirectroy and then possible NetMail are big wins.  As the
> Linux desktop matures, there may be more incentive for Corporate America
> to get out from under Microsoft's thumb.

But does it just put them under a different thumb?  And is that a good
thing?

I might argue that a lower price point (due to less monopolistic
aggression) is NOT a good thing... decreasing the monetary cost of being
oppressed does not decrease the oppression.

> Fortunately, this time around trying to re-invent its self, Novell has
> bought Linux and Open Source expertise and products.  It's up to Novell
> to make it work.

Novell is still a software company in the old-school sense.  They sell
bits.  I've always considered SuSE to be something of an interloper in the
world of Free Software.  Sure, they do pay some developers to work some
public stuff, but that's just the "smart business" angle.  They're still
getting way more out than their putting in, then using what they get out
for their private gain.  Their number one goal is not making a better
world for anyone but SuSE.

The situation begs the question of what it means for for-profit software
company to get involved in Free Software.

Will Novell continue to sell bits and, if so, can their commitment to
Free Software and the GPL can be trusted?

This can only be answered in the fullness of time, but unless there are
serious changes to the business model at Novell, I don't see this as a
particularly good thing.

The bigger the software company, the greater the damage when our system is
exploited.  IBM works alright because they are emphatically NOT a software
company.  They sell physical goods.  The software is becoming what it
originally was -- a value-add.

J.
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     Jeme A Brelin
    jeme at brelin.net
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