Bonum Certa Men Certa

How Mono Helps Microsoft DirectX, With Contribution From VMB_ware


Paul Maritz (VMB_ware CEO, formerly Microsoft)
Photo by Robert Scoble



Summary: Several Microsoft executives who run VMB_ware continue to work on projects which, along with Novell's projects help empower and spread Microsoft APIs

ACCORDING to this new article from IDG, VMB_ware and Novell are currently negotiating the price which VMB_ware will pay for SUSE (along with Mono and Moonlight based on some other reports). VMB_ware is run by executives who used to work for Microsoft and it may soon have power over Microsoft APIs inside GNU/Linux, including Gallium3D which appears to promote DirectX at OpenGL's expense.



IDG makes it sound as though the sale to VMB_ware is almost a done deal. To quote:

The Wall Street Journal is reporting rumors that VMware may buy Novell's SUSE Linux OS business, though Atachmate is competing for the est of the company's assets.

VMware and Novell have agreed on everything but price, according to the WSJ, which cites unnamed analysts as saying the tools built to help Linux administrators manage virtualized OSes will strengthen VMware's own VM management apps.


We are beginning to wonder what VMB_ware may plan to do with Microsoft-taxed SUSE, Mono, and Gallium3D. These assets can help VMB_ware help Microsoft. To quote a conversation from yesterday, there is evidence to suggest Mono is now linking/embedding some Gallium3D.

Very informal discussion ought to be assumed (it is an IRC discussion, thus nothing polished):

jimbo_I read a week or 2 ago about VMB_Ware pushing DirectXOct 20 19:33
schestowitzAny news on that?Oct 20 19:34
schestowitzgnufreex and Diablo-D3 raised the issueOct 20 19:34
jimbo_you might find it interesting to note that Moonlie is using itOct 20 19:34
schestowitzI just published the logsOct 20 19:34
jimbo_the gallium3d thingOct 20 19:34
Diablo-D3Im completely fine with itOct 20 19:34
jimbo_so team appologista is also pushing itOct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3the tracker is only for dx10/11, which is an almost carbon copy of gl3+future.Oct 20 19:35
gnufreexIt looks like there is no patent danger. I checked. But there is still API control danger.Oct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3and, the tracker itself is almost a carbon copy of how you'd write a future-only gl3 tracker.Oct 20 19:35
jimbo_diablo3d just like .not is a clone of java? ;)Oct 20 19:35
schestowitzvmware gallium3d?Oct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3jimbo_: -D3, and yes, basically how c# copies javaOct 20 19:35
Diablo-D3jimbo_: except its c++ and LOOKs like d3d9, it just isntOct 20 19:36
jimbo_diablo: m$ has patents all over the place on .netOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3anyone trying d3d10/11 with a 9 mindset will write shitOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3sun has patents all over the placeOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3also, this is an APIOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3the patents being held will be held by companies like AMD and NvidiaOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3remember, gl and d3d both are high level wrappers for vendor-specific HALsOct 20 19:36
jimbo_JoseX a while back wrote a very interesting piece about how you can patent APIsOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3they dont _do_ anythingOct 20 19:36
schestowitzAPIs can have patent trapsOct 20 19:36
Diablo-D3schestowitz: not without having the patent invalidatedOct 20 19:37
schestowitzjimbo_: yes, beat me to itOct 20 19:37
jimbo_schestowitz :)Oct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3like, I can write an API that uploads s3tc to a video cardOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3they cant sue meOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3Im not decoding itOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3the video card isOct 20 19:37
gnufreexMicrosoft has one OpenGL patent they bought from failing SGIOct 20 19:37
gnufreexRest are expired.Oct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3gnufreex: except it applies to _running_ GLOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3as in, what happens on the video cardOct 20 19:37
Diablo-D3there is nothing being done usefully in software, for performance reasonsOct 20 19:37
jimbo_anyways, about to head out with friendsOct 20 19:38
jimbo_just thought I'd pass along the info about moonli and gallium3dOct 20 19:38
schestowitzDiablo-D3: APis alone are not the infringement, but writing for them may beOct 20 19:38
jimbo_moonlieOct 20 19:38
schestowitzlink/Oct 20 19:38
schestowitz?Oct 20 19:38
schestowitzSVN/GIT?Oct 20 19:38
jimbo_hold on, gotta re-search for itOct 20 19:38
Diablo-D3schestowitz: but we're not writing for themOct 20 19:38
jimbo_yea, it'll be in git in the configure.inOct 20 19:38
Diablo-D3AMD and Nvidia and Intel didOct 20 19:39
schestowitzMaybe VMB_ware will just buy MonoOct 20 19:39
Diablo-D3remember, all this shit runs on the cardOct 20 19:39
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[gotunandan/@gotunandan] RT @cassidyjames So, OS X Lion App Store = !Ubuntu Software Center, Mission Control = Gnome Shell, Multitouch Gestures = UTouch... what ...Oct 20 19:39
jimbo_http://github.com/mono/moon/blob/master/m4/gallium.m4Oct 20 19:40
TechrightsBot-trTitle: m4/gallium.m4 at master from mono's moon - GitHub .::. Size~: 38.95 KBOct 20 19:40
jimbo_that's the gallium3d detection codeOct 20 19:41
jimbo_configure script codeOct 20 19:41
jimbo_http://github.com/mono/moon/blob/master/configure.acOct 20 19:41
TechrightsBot-trTitle: configure.ac at master from mono's moon - GitHub .::. Size~: 72.32 KBOct 20 19:41
jimbo_that's their configure.ac which uses itOct 20 19:42
jimbo_phoronix also talked about itOct 20 19:42
jimbo_iircOct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[flameeyes/@flameeyes] Did #Canonical not trademark #Launchpad? Now we're going to get confusion between theirs and Apple's :/Oct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[tekk/@tekk] okay !rmsgnulinux, I know you've been waiting forever for 1.2.5 kde but right now I'm working in a kde 3.5.12(trinity) package for ya \o/Oct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[schestowitz/@schestowitz] Open source moves into the enterprise at NZ organisations http://ur1.ca/24rip Not just NZ, but this is NZ-based siteOct 20 19:42
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Open source moves into the enterprise at NZ organisations | Computerworld NZ .::. Size~: 44.47 KBOct 20 19:42
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[eff/@eff] Geotag, You're It! https://eff.org/r.2tv Android and iOS respect your geolocation settings. Check them!Oct 20 19:44
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Geotag, You're It! What Your Smartphone Might Be Saying Behind Your Back | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse .::. Size~: 26.49 KBOct 20 19:44
*scientes (~scientes@c-76-28-168-154.hsd1.wa.comcast.net) has joined #techrightsOct 20 19:45
jimbo_http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2010/Jan-07.htmlOct 20 19:47
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Pixel Shaders for Moonlight - Miguel de Icaza .::. Size~: 14.13 KBOct 20 19:47
jimbo_that shows they are indeed using itOct 20 19:47
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[tekk/@tekk] !rmsgnulinux if anyone doesn't know, trinity is the kde3 continuation project. Hopefully we may become a go-to distro for kde3 lovers =3Oct 20 19:47
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[schestowitz/@schestowitz] #HP announces #Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 http://ur1.ca/24rl9 "1GHz Palm Pre 2, as well as a major WebOS 2.0 update" !llinuxOct 20 19:47
TechrightsBot-trTitle: HP announces Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 - News - Linux for Devices .::. Size~: 55.63 KBOct 20 19:47
jimbo_vm_bware might be buying mono/moonlie as an injection vectorOct 20 19:48
jimbo_for gallium3dOct 20 19:48
jimbo_piggyback on other patent trojansOct 20 19:48
jimbo_you can probably find more info about thisOct 20 19:49
jimbo_this is only a startOct 20 19:49
jimbo_but I find it highly suspectOct 20 19:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[nhi/@nhi] â™» @eff: Geotag, You're It! https://eff.org/r.2tv Android and iOS respect your geolocation settings. Check them!Oct 20 19:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[nhi/@nhi] â™» @schestowitz: #HP announces #Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 http://ur1.ca/24rl9 "1GHz Palm Pre 2, as well as a major WebOS 2.0 update"Oct 20 19:49
-TRIdentica/#techrights-[schestowitz/@schestowitz] Sheesh! When Will Folks Acknowledge GNU/Linux Has Arrived? http://ur1.ca/24rlo Linux dead? 2000 called, wants headline back...Oct 20 19:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: Geotag, You're It! What Your Smartphone Might Be Saying Behind Your Back | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse .::. Size~: 26.47 KBOct 20 19:49
jimbo_too much of a coincidenceOct 20 19:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: HP announces Palm Pre 2 with WebOS 2.0 - News - Linux for Devices .::. Size~: 55.63 KBOct 20 19:49
TechrightsBot-trTitle: ur1 Generator .::. Size~: 1.93 KBOct 20 19:49
jimbo_good nightOct 20 19:49
*jimbo_ has quit (Quit: Page closed)Oct 20 19:50


Assuming there is intent to just promote Microsoft APIs, OpenSUSE ought to escape Novell/VMB_ware by forking and breaking away from Novell trademarks (VMB_ware has no real development communities). There is an OpenSUSE Conference (OSC) these days [1, 2], but apart from that, almost nothing is going on at OpenSUSE anymore. Andreas Jaeger has just announced a new release of OSB, but that's about it:

The openSUSE Build Service – OBS – is now officially at release 2.1. We’re delighted with the improvements in this release, including an enhanced web interface, integration with online code management systems and better access controls.


More here:

Tomorrow the openSUSE Conference is beginning in the always-wonderful Germany for a three-day event about the openSUSE project and free software in general with a variety of hacking sessions, birds of a feather sessions, and surely some Nürnberg beer along the way. Sadly due to some last minute scheduling changes and only getting back from San Diego yesterday, I on the behalf of Phoronix will not be in attendance at the German conference, but there is openSUSE news to report today: version 2.1 of the openSUSE Build Service has just been released.


In order for OpenSUSE to secure a GNU/Linux direction, its developers may have to get dissociated from Novell before it's sold to the Microsoft executives who run VMB_ware. It seems as though they are quite interested in the Mono part, which is Novell's crown jewel (in its own eyes at least).

Recent Techrights' Posts

An Important Goal Has Been Accomplished Already
Stubborn activists need to insist on a future where computer users actually control the computers they own
GNU/Linux up to 5% in Ireland, Not Counting Chromebooks
statCounter is an Irish
The War on Free Software Reporters - Part III - Doxing and LARPing
LARPing is an issue I've had to deal with for nearly 20 years
 
Gemini Links 03/06/2024: Maturity and Tenstorrent
Links for the day
In the Month of May 2024 the OSI's Blog Was Almost 100% Microsoft Lobbying, Microsoft Staff, Microsoft Proprietary Software, and Microsoft Events
Entryism complete. RIP, OSI.
Gemini Links 02/06/2024: Delayed Disappointment
Links for the day
statCounter: GNU/Linux on More Than 1 in 5 Desktops/Laptops
Desktop Operating System Market Share Norway
Reminder: The First CEO of IBM (Owner of Red Hat) Was "Convicted on Extortion" (According to Edwin Black, Author of "IBM and the Holocaust")
Red Hat is not a liberal company
GNU/Linux Market Share in Turkey Now Exceeds 10%, According to StatCounter
StatCounter (or statCounter) shows considerable increases
GNU/Linux in Germany: The Seven Percent
The historical data shows that it wasn't always like this
Slovenia: Windows Becomes Minority Market Share This Month
It finally happened. Android is now measured as bigger than Windows.
statCounter: Bing Has Lost Market Share Since the Chatbot Hype, in Europe Yandex Nearly Exceeds Bing Now
Bing also had many layoffs (not that the media bothered covering that); we must debunk Microsoft's baseless claims and deliberate lies/hype
Microsoft Windows Falls Below 10% in Africa, Down to About 20% in Asia
The future isn't Windows
Taiwan Can Defend Its Autonomy Better by Avoiding Microsoft (Back Doors)
Maybe it's just a coincidence that GNU/Linux "took off" when Hong Kong lost its perceived independence from China
The War on Free Software Reporters - Part IV - Impersonation and Menacing Behaviour, Defamation Under One's Own Name
Such serial defamation (that went on for a very long time) is coordinated and relentless
Links 02/06/2024: Workers' Strikes and a Warming World
Links for the day
Microsoft Falls to All-Time Low of 25% in Operating Systems
If Android is counted, Windows is in trouble as it's down to all-time low of 25%
Steam Survey: GNU/Linux Up, But Canonical's Ubuntu Declining
big increases for GNU/Linux, Arch Linux gaining at Ubuntu's expense
Guardian Digital, Inc (linuxsecurity.com) Leveraging Microsoft Chatbots to SPAM for Microsoft (Googlebombing "Linux")?
Welcome to the Web in 2024. Search for "Linux" news, get Windows garbage.
Smallest Number of New Debian Developers in More Than 2 Years
Maybe Debian should recognise there's a problem instead of trying to censor - at humongous expense - those who speak about the problem
Slashdot's "Linux" Section is Reposting Press Releases for Red Hat
Is this being paid for?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 01, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, June 01, 2024
Links 01/06/2024: Microsoft Chaffbot Broken Out of Control
Links for the day
The Media Finally Admits (on a Regular Basis) That LLMs Suck
They could not replace medical doctors, teachers, lawyers etc.
Why We're Taking Things Up a Notch
Expect about 20 articles a day this year
Sites That Cover WSL Are Helping Microsoft's Attack on GNU/Linux
Calling out the typical culprits
Plans for June
We'll try to publish Daily Links every time we have enough of these
Links 01/06/2024: Ukraine Updates, MongoDB Collapses
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/06/2024: MNT Pocket Reform, Gemini and Content Length
Links for the day
Links 01/06/2024: WeblogPoMo2024, Pentagon’s Increasing Reliance on (i.e. Bailouts to) Microsoft
Links for the day
Twitter is (in Many Ways) Already Dead
Put an 'X' on it
Posts About Free Software, BSD, and GNU/Linux
Focus shifts have occasionally been discussed here over the years
After Softpedia Pushed Out Its Linux News Editor - and Effectively Killed the Linux Section - it Killed the Whole News Section (Altogether)
So they've killed Linux coverage, then their whole "news" section died
Their Goal is Control, Not Security (and Their Staff Advocates Fake Security or Pricey Gimmicks That Disempower the Users)
Those companies just want control, or simply domination over users (and their computers)
[Meme] The Lowest Standards of Security
No need for any qualifications
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 31, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, May 31, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Cybersecurity is a structural not behavioural problem.
Reprinted with permission from Cyber|Show
Free Software is the Future, Open Source is Just Openwashing (Proprietary With a False Marketing Twist)
Also see postopen.org
Society Has Been Destabilised by Social Control Networks
Is it time to get rid of them, if not by sanctions/bans then simply by popular boycotts?
Gemini Turns 5 This Month
As long as Geminispace exists and is accessed by enough people, Gemini Protocol will continue to matter
Links 01/06/2024: More Crackdowns in Hong Kong, Street Named After Navalny
Links for the day