Turn, Jump, Spin Around : OpenSUSE Irc on Novell Deal

Alright, I originally wrote this post over on linux.com. Basically, the long story short is that OpenSUSE hosted an IRC chat supposedly to go over the deal with Microsoft that was made by Novell.

Linux.com already has a slightly edited version up here

If you want to see the unedited text of the chat, you can click on this link

Anyways, this is my original thought over the event:

I'm still trying to plow through the un-edited version after reading the lightly edited version here, and, to be honest, this isn't what I expected.

I, personally, expected the IRC chat to be about how OpenSuse developers were going to handle the deal with Microsoft and Novell. I expected it to be about making plans on how to move forward, what programs were and were not going to be worked on, and possibly technical details about how exactly the interop center would actually be functioning.

I also expected the chat to cover any potential plans for mass-evacuation of OpenSuse developers to other projects if the worst fears were realized. I expected serious considerations to be given to Ubuntu, Debian, Gentoo, or RedHat development.

I expected questions and answers about how this might affect KDE and it's use on Windows, or how Novell might use KDE in the future. I expected questions about how Ximian and Evolution would be impacted by the deal, increased exchange server compatibility a possible topic.

What I did not expect, and what we got, was spin about how the deal was good, and about how nothing would really change in the long run. The overall tone of the IRC chat, and the questions that were not asked or addressed...

well, I'm going to state this: I have no problems with Non-Free software. I have no problems with Paying For software if it offers a reasonable price, after all, if I don't pay the coder or the designer, how are they going to afford to be able to work on the project in the future?

I have no problems with the non-free drivers at use in Ubuntu. Like it or not, Open-Source hasn't provided the performance the binary ATi and Nvidia drivers provide, and wireless with "free" drivers? Not happening on a lot of wireless chipsets.

Anyways, the point is, given what we just got from the OpenSuse chat, I'm far more comfortable staying with Mepis built on Ubuntu. People may complain about Mark Shuttleworths and Warren's use of non-free software, but they don't attempt to hide it or spin it.