ESR and Shuttleworth?
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| devnet Jun 14, 2007 8:42 PM EDT |
Anyone care to speculate? http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/12899/1090/ If anything...Mr Shuttleworth will need to say something about this. |
| henke54 Jun 14, 2007 9:42 PM EDT |
http://www.linspire.com/linspire_letter_archives.php?id=36
http://www.linspire.com/lindows_news_pressreleases.phpQuoting:As the late Kerry Packer, Australia's richest man, once said during the negotiations with MCC after he organised a rebel cricket series in Australia in the late 70s: "There is a little bit of the whore in every one of us; gentlemen, name your price." ;-P |
| dinotrac Jun 15, 2007 2:38 AM EDT |
>If anything...Mr Shuttleworth will need to say something about this. Why? Why does anybody need to say anything, particularly given the lack of any details on which to base action? It's unclear to me exactly what has changed and how much. Linspire has always had a relationship of sorts with Microsoft. That relationship is now better defined. It may -- just may, because we don't have the details -- violate future GPLs. Shuttlesworth might want to ensure that none of his IP is used in violation of its license, or he may wish to negotiate a deal with Linspire. These days, saying much of anything WRT Microsoft deals seems like risky business. |
| jacog Jun 15, 2007 3:26 AM EDT |
Let's consider Star Wars Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back: Lando Calrissian makes a deal with the Empire to deliver Luke Skywalker to them. In return, Darth Vader promises that the Empire will continue to overlook their mining operation and not tax it / blow it up / whatever. But, as the story progresses, Vader keeps making changes to the agreement... at some point we see Lando saying something like "This deal is getting worse by the second". Lando eventually realises that all the screwing over of his friends is just not worth it, and switches sides again. He also tells the staff to evacuate, and then abandons the complex entirely. So... perhaps there's a little Cloud City in Linspire/Xandros/Novell's future. |
| dinotrac Jun 15, 2007 5:26 AM EDT |
>perhaps |
| devnet Jun 15, 2007 10:34 AM EDT |
Quoting:Why? Very surprised you even asked dino...I thought you were more intelligent than that. Take a step outside of your own convictions and mindset on technology and look at this from a third person perspective who doesn't know anything other than Ubuntu and Linux. Now, think back to the 'Linspire is based on Ubuntu' announcement. Think of CNR being ported to Ubuntu. Now think about...would you expect to not know where Ubuntu stands on the issue? Most people wouldn't. I know you're not most people though.. |
| dinotrac Jun 15, 2007 11:23 AM EDT |
>Now think about...would you expect to not know where Ubuntu stands on the issue? Depends on what you say "the issue" is. If it's Linspire, I don't know why I would expect to care. I don't use Linspire and I don't know the details of their deal. I know they have always done a dance with Microsoft. From my standpoint, very little is new. If the issue is Ubuntu doing a deal with Microsoft, I would say there is more risk in making a statement that being quiet. |
| helios Jun 15, 2007 1:10 PM EDT |
Microsoft is mostly interested in gaining a foothold with companies that choose to hold back part of their systems as proprietary/closed source code. Xandros with their file systems and yet still, Linspire with bits and parts of their system. There is a specific reason for that and I am surprised no one has made the connection. I have rang ESR until my right ear is sore from phone contact. I actually started attempting to contact him during the Xandros deal, knowing full well Linspire was next. I talked about it here so there is open record of it. Someone mentioned PCLinuxOS as the "next to fall". No, the next one pitched is Mepis. Fact is, it may have already been done and either not announced or flat out rejected. My crystal ball isn't saying which. Shuttleworth hasn't spoke to me since Tux500...with good reason ;-O). Brad Smith doesn't fear Shuttleworth, he fears the community behind it. If for that reason only, any "deal" done with The Big Cannon/Shuttleworth will be more subtle. h |
| tracyanne Jun 15, 2007 2:36 PM EDT |
Quoting:Xandros with their file systems and yet still, Linspire with bits and parts of their system. There is a specific reason for that and I am surprised no one has made the connection. I have, see my recent post in another thread on this subject. |
| dcparris Jun 15, 2007 4:51 PM EDT |
That's true, helios - I didn't get the chance to post earlier, but I was going to say she had been talking right up your alley. |
| devnet Jun 15, 2007 5:20 PM EDT |
another connection people aren't making...*buntu derrivatives. |
| jdixon Jun 15, 2007 5:22 PM EDT |
> *buntu derrivatives. AFAIK, Xandros is a Debian derivative, but not an Ubuntu one. |
| dcparris Jun 15, 2007 5:40 PM EDT |
Correct, jdixon. |
| tuxchick Jun 16, 2007 9:07 AM EDT |
helios- why even bother with ESR? Other than to poke at him with a stick to make him emit his usual quota of "I am so wonderful to me" blather. It seems the only people who pay attention to him these days are the free-as-in-freeloader demographic; the ones who want operating systems just like Windows or Mac, only free of cost. So they are gung-ho to lard down free software with whatever proprietary crud it takes to get there, using the "we need to temporarily abandon freedom in order to gain freedom" rationale. There is also a lot of mumbo-jumbo about 'World Domination Is Necessary Now!'
http://catb.org/~esr/writings/world-domination/world-dominat... I figure if a Windows-clone environment is what Linux Users Really Want, Linspire and Xandros would be the dominant Linuxes. But they're not, and since Mr. Raymond deploys many more hundreds of words than that to explain his position, which of course has nothing to do with getting a paycheck, I might be missing something subtle and important. |
| dinotrac Jun 16, 2007 9:46 AM EDT |
>I figure if a Windows-clone environment is what Linux Users Really Want, Linspire and Xandros would be the dominant Linuxes. Silly logic. Xandros and Linspire are not going after Linux users. |
| Abe Jun 16, 2007 10:38 AM EDT |
Quoting:Silly logic. Xandros and Linspire are not going after Linux users.They are after any users, including Linux. |
| dinotrac Jun 16, 2007 11:18 AM EDT |
>They are after any users, including Linux. They won't turn 'em down, but their target market is converts. |
| tracyanne Jun 16, 2007 1:59 PM EDT |
Quoting:They won't turn 'em down, but their target market is converts. And that's why, or at least one reason why, Microsoft wants to control them. |
| tuxchick Jun 16, 2007 2:14 PM EDT |
Linspire has no idea what their target market is. I talked to Kevin Carmony when Linspire 5.0 was released last year, and he told me their target market was not Windows users, nor Linux users, nor Mac users, but people who were new to personal computers. Sometimes I think he makes it up as he goes. The whole default-root-user issue (which Mr. Carmony defended), Rob Enderle keynoting the Desktop Linux Summit (DLS), their not-very-good tech support, and the confusing assault of commercial crapware when you boot a new Linspire system- it all adds up to "ew no thanks" for me. All of this parroting of the "Interoperability and Customer Choice" baloney is a smokescreen for "we're desperate and that Microsoft money spends real nice." No more complicated than that. If it gets Linux into new markets, cool, but that would be purely an accidental side-effect. Anyone who believes that Microsoft has kindly intentions towards Linux please report to the Brain Examination Institute for a thorough workup. |
| dinotrac Jun 16, 2007 7:47 PM EDT |
>we're desperate and that Microsoft money spends real nice. I'd actually feel a lot better if that is the case. There was no mention of Microsoft money going to Linspire in the reports I read, but... The more Microsoft spends for what will, in the end, amount to nothing much, the better. |
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