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Welcome to virtuallinux.org. You are currently reading the article "Is Novell losing Linux? No, it's just bad reporting". All articles on virtuallinux.org pertain to the ongoing assult on the worlds greatest Operating system. Continue on reading about "Is Novell losing Linux? No, it's just bad reporting"
Is Novell losing Linux? No, it's just bad reporting
Posted on Tuesday, February 06 2007 @ 12:17:50 EST by linuxwiz |
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Commentary: Blame Jim Finkle at Reuters, I suppose. His story
is the one that started this large dung-ball of misinformation rolling
around the Internet. You know the one, about Novell losing the right to
distribute Linux.
The Reuters story quotes Eben Moglen, general counsel for the Free
Software Foundation, as saying, "The community of people wants to do
anything they can to interfere with this deal and all deals like it.
They have every reason to be deeply concerned that this is the
beginning of a significant patent aggression by Microsoft."
Finkle goes on to say, "Novell angered members of the
open-source community that develops Linux and other free software
programs in November when it entered a wide-ranging business deal with
Microsoft."
An observation: conflating the open source and Free Software
communities -- as Finkle has done -- shows about as much familiarity
with the subject matter as I have with quantum physics. My guess is
that open source
folks, a group that leaves Stallman and Moglen largely unimpressed, are
pretty much OK with the Microsoft/Novell deal. But not so the FSF, which has been considering as yet unpublished changes to the draft of GPLv3 to effectively block such deals in the future.
As an illustration of how far and how quickly misinformation can spread
on the Internet, Geek.com published a story this morning entitled "Novell may lose access to new Linux versions."
According to Brian Osborne, the author of the Geek.com piece, "The Free
Software Foundation may ban Novell from selling new versions of the
Linux operating system due to concerns over the close partnership with
Microsoft."
In the face of such towering ignorance, it may be worthwhile to note:
1. The FSF has absolutely no control over Novell's distribution
of Linux. None at all. Zero. It doesn't matter a whit how much Stallman
hates the Microsoft/Novell deal. It's legal. It's legit. It's in full
compliance with the GPL.
2. GPLv3 is still on the drawing board. Jumping to conclusions
about the consequences of its impact on Novell is insanely
irresponsible. Any changes to the current draft version of GPLv3 will
go through the same public debate and discussion as have the previous
drafts.
3. The odds of the Linux kernel ever moving to GPLv3
-- so long as its current anti-DRM and other restrictive clauses remain
in place -- is about the same as mine being crowned Miss America. And I
don't even know Donald Trump.
This story -- the meme about Novell not being allowed to sell
Linux -- is too stupid to even be considered FUD. Both Novell and Eben
Moglen have declined our invitation to comment on it.
Source
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