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Three Takers Named for Microsoft's Linux Support
narramissic writes "According to an article on ITworld, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank AG, and AIG Technologies have signed on for Microsoft's technical support for Novell Inc.'s Suse Enterprise Linux. This follows last month's announcement of a deal between Novell and Microsoft that Steve Ballmer described as an effort to 'bridge the divide between open-source and proprietary-source software.' None of the companies cited the price of the support certificates, nor would they say how many they were activating. Even more interesting, Credit Suisse is a brand new cusomter for Novell."
Where is the "itsatrap" tag?!?
Customer: "Please don't hurt me."
Ballmer: "These are some lovely client server apps you have here, it would be a shame if something were to.. happen to them..."
Customer: "Okay.. okay, I'll pay.... I'll pay" [quiet weeping].
-GiH
It's a cookbook!
If you disagree with me on social issues, then it's pretty clear that you are a narrow-minded bigot.
It's not Microsoft's fault if these companies choose to pay for support they don't actually need.
Now Novell will have to introduce random behaving bugs in his packages lest the microsoft support guys feel disoriented.
---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
Working the Suse helldesk for Microsoft...
<full body shudder>
I'd feel like I'd been shot down behind enemy lines. Or maybe more like a galley slave.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
So...this deal is bad for Novell how??
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS6962961128.html
What am I missing?
What's so intresting about that ?
It's not like Microsoft would start companies to make it look like people are actually supporting this thing.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
We always know Microsoft was good at selling bad stuff but this takes the cake.
Why, oh way would you buy Linux support from Microsoft!
The word "support" is so overused. What exactly does support mean these days anyway? Patches that don't work? Phone calls to someone out of the country that doesn't speak your language natively and has never actually used the program in a production environment? Hold times of 45 minutes? Security updates that break other parts?
Honestly, the word "support" to me has almost no meaning anymore. It's been thrown out there so many times as the deciding factor in a purchase, however I've yet to see really useful support. I've dealt with companies big and small and have never resolved a difficult issue in less than an hour with their supplied support.
All I care about anymore is whether they give you the proper tools to solve the problem yourself. Proper documentation and the source code (yes, smaller companies will give you source code if you are big enough and that's the deal breaker). I'll take that over a level I phone jockey any day!
If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
Yes, because Microsoft's Windows support is such a sterling example of quality, I can see where companies would have to be literally fended off with dead chickens from taking this deal.
Check out my sysadmin blog!
So in other words, if I understand you well: Linux users are the elite of the humanity. The creme de la creme of the intelectuality. Oh, OK then. Next patient!
It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
This is the one time I feel that "ItsaTrap" would be an appropriate tag.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
You'd think so, wouldn't you?
But suppose Microsoft was offering those licenses on a "free" evaluation basis? Note that no one is talking about how many licenses Credit Suisse activated. Even one person trying one "free" license just to see how it worked would meet the criteria identified in that story.
On the other hand, Novell's marketing efforts in the past have sucked beyond belief. It would be most amusing if a free give-away from Microsoft represented more effort than Novell had previously put into marketing.
MS is not providing them Linux support. The sold them Novells support program.
Is that I don't have an account with those 3 institutions.
So I could close em.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
So when is /. going to replace the SuSE icon with a stylised thirty pieces of silver?
Never, we are way to scientifically mindied here to resort to Biblical symbolism. However we are quite mean enough to, say.... superimpose a portrait of Vidkun Quisling over the Novell logo.... Mwuhahahahahahahahaha!
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/21/ 167258
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
Dewey, Cheetem, and Howe
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
Even though I am using Debian, SUSE Linux distribution is a very good one, and dominant, I believe, in Europe. Not surprised that the CS and DB signed up. I just wonder how the whole Novell/MS deal will pan out for Novell, MS, and GPL/Linux camps at large...
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
What strikes me here is that Microsoft could potentially make more money selling "we won't sue you" certificates to [Novell] Linux users than the companies actually providing *real* support for said systems ...
Whoever runs this bot, it's not even trolling. I'm not sure what your point is with it.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
"Three Tankers Named for Microsoft's Linux Support" U.S.S. Itsatrap
What?! Microsoft's CEO basically threatens companies that use Linux, and Microsoft isn't at fault?!
And I suppose if Guido says, "Bad things might happen to your family, Mr. Anonymous Coward, unless you pay me some 'protection' money...", then it isn't Guido's fault if you pay him for protection you don't actually need???
And you got modded Insightful! Unbelievable!
I, for one, am getting pretty tired of people whining that Microsoft gets unfairly bashed here on Slashdot too often. I regularly read plenty of responses that defend Microsoft that get modded +5 Insightful.
Btw, it appears the Linux business is based on support revenue, whereas Windows business is based on licensing fee revenue. If SUSE customers buy support from MS, Novell might as well turn out the lights and liquidate whatever assets they have.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Great! Maybe Credit Suisse has a bunch of Toshiba laptops and THEY can pay MS to figure out why opensuse 10.2 crashes the shit out of my Toshiba laptop, when 10.1 ran like a swiss watch.
See? MS might just help the linux community
1 in 4 Maine children in struggle with hunger.
...Joe "the Butcher" Provoloni said "it's not our fault if those guys paid for protection they don't actually need".
You have committed a debating foul. Penalized one "all of your credibility" for "Nazi reference."
Acting agent would like to inform you that your comment was amusing - if foul.
-GiH
Well that's a good thing because if someone is set upon by biased propoganda out in the wild, then they may not be ready for it. But here you get to see the fresh propoganda put out all ready to be devoured by those who can see its weaknesses. The net effect is that the astroturfers set up a series of strawmen against themselves! And if there's the odd occasion when it isn't a strawman, then it's right that it shouldn't get knocked down. But on the whole, astroturfers act like a vaccine against FUD.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
Why would they? Why would they want two different support deals, each one supporting just their own products, or potentially, one support deal, to support their whole system, and the integration. I think that's a no-brainer. Heck, I don't know why anybody would pay for Novell support at this point.
You lose.
Working for 1 of those 3, I can assure you that if they chose MS Linux support it's because it was the cheapest. That's solely based on all the other support options they've chosen for "support".
"I, for one, am getting pretty tired of people whining that Microsoft gets unfairly bashed here on Slashdot too often."
Welcome to asstroturf-land! What took you so long to get the Word?
This is why I barely come here, ignore my account, and only drop the odd comment as an AC. Until social sites take a stand against paid commenters hired to steer the public's opinion towards corporation's and political parties' favor, the whole comment system will continue to be a sham. Not to mention the story submission system.
Not to mention the gullible fools who fall for this outrageous bullshit! Just like with spam, they keep doing it because someone is still stupid enough to fall for it.
As far as "bridging the divide between open-source and proprietary-source software" is concerned, Ballmer doesn't seem to grasp that the basic concept of open vs. closed. His so-called "divide" isn't something that can just be patched up like so many Microsoft products. The only way to "bridge" the difference between open and closed is with a hinge.
So which way does Ballmer expect to bridge this door?
So...this deal is bad for Novell how?? [points to the return of Mantel]
Mantel has NOTHING to do with the M$ deal, despite the following spin:
I'm not sure they should say he approves of the partnership, so much as he's happy M$ has acknowledged the existence of free software and might drop some of it's FUD. He's wrong about that, M$ still claims free software is impractical. The legal FUD is going on as strong as ever as is the "Get the Facts" nonsense.
The article was clear, I think, about his reasons for going back and they have nothing to do with the evil deal he's trying to ignore.
He missed his friends and wanted a job working with Linux.
Others have adequately explained why the deal is bad news.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
They will outsource Linux support just like they did for their MS Professional and MS Premier support contracts for EMEA. Not necessarily a bad thing, considering customer satisfaction for their support started rating better as soon they outsourced it to HP. HP is already in the Linux market, they would be the potential bidders for doing their Linux support as well.
Supporting MS products doesn't mean you have to like them.
Someone did not take his meds today...
One of the nice things about being a sociopath (or a sociopathic corporation) is that you don't have to care when your accusers are right and you can get away with whining about other people picking on you. I suppose technically, that's two nice things.
My sides are splitting.
Property is theft.
for Microsoft to make Windows more compatible with Linux? Not very. Support _standard_ LDAP and webdav + NFS and remote X display and you'd be mostly there. Instead, Microsoft broke compatibility with most of these protocols/standards or ignored them. Seems ironic now that they are talking about interoperability.
At fault for what? Making very generalized threats towards people running versions of Linux other than SUSE? This protection money you're talking about is for support contracts from Novell, which Microsoft purchased from Novell themselves.
FTFA Customers have already activated 16,000 of the certificates in the seven weeks they have been offered - I wonder how many support contracts Novell normally sells in a 7 week period. I'd be willing to wager it's usually less than 16k. Community respect issues aside, this actually seems good for Novell.
Indeed... they should instead be modded "-1 Kick this guy in the nuts"
a room full of MCSEs....
From http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO/Advoca cy
Why not? They already have a UNIX-compatible shell of sorts, a deal with Novell, plus they are supporting Linux. Look at IBM, which makes a real nice business with Linux support. These guys could make something that REALLY was compatible with MS Office and all the rest. Look a Mono trying to build a bridge to them. Just think of what they could do starting from their end. Pretty scary, huh? But wouldn't it really make things interesting?
When clients like these sign on to the program, the Geek becomes expendable.
Sure...but only until some overpaid executive can't get his second yacht because of revenue shortfalls. This is only as permanent as there is money to be made.
...At the risk of being modded so low I can't possibly get anything but coal for Christmas, may I relate a relatively positive story with Microsoft support...
A former employer operates a 300+ gig SQL Server database without a DBA... Yes, this was their first mistake, I know... Moving on... Said database lives on a database server (as you probably imagined.) In the course of normal operations, the SQL Server server(a very nice piece of iron for its time) decides it is going to begin randomly becoming non-responsive, swallowing all RAM on the server (32 gig!!!) and pinning all 8 procs to 100%... After about two hours of troubleshooting the problem, we concluded we were in way over our heads. Called Microsoft support, got onto the SQL Server support line... Boss gives CC#, we're on with a tech in like 90 seconds... After about five minutes on the phone we've been escalated to the tier III desk and are talking to a woman in Toronto who spoke flawless English and knew more about SQL Server (and programming, Microsoft Networking, and a few other subjects) than all three of us combined. The problem turned out to be a systematic problem that our exact and specific configuration of options had precipitated... Clearly a flaw in the product since we weren't doing anything outrageous, just demanding a lot from SQL Server. She worked with us for a total of about 50 or 60 hours on the phone with us in the course of the next month, (and who even knows how much outside research. Eventually we did resolve the issue by applying a hotfix and making some changes to our SQL code... Total cost? One support call: I think it was around $400. Not too shabby.
As with all stories of technical support, technology features, or performance: Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV.)
Posted anonymously because databases are sensitive subjects...
Honda: The Universal Symbol of Rice.
Their Linux support will be like their windows support;
"Have you tried turning it off and on again? You have? Oh..... reinstall it."
God Be Gone
Microsoft's astroturfing has been a blight on Slashdot for a long time now. I wonder if this decision http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061221-8480 .html will cut down the shilling a little...
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Godwin's law only applies when the entity in question had no connection to Nazi, not when the discussion is centered around unethical deeds of Volkswagen, IBM or Swiss banks.
Microsoft: We suggest that you upgrade to a newer and better version of Linux: Windows Server 2003.
Novell will be exhibiting at SCALE 5x in LA on Feb 10-11, 2007.
Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers
As to the why-still-use-Windows people, my philosophy is to use the best hardware and software tools for each job - and 'best' is a hazy function of suitability for the task, purchase cost, maintenance cost, admin training cost, user training cost, support quality, compatibility with other systems, industry reputation... the list goes on. And as long as the license for whatever it is allows us to do what we intend, that's all I care about. I have problems to solve and solutions to provide, and I need to solve them today. Some of what I need is best served by Windows. Some isn't. It would be good from some aspects to use all-OSS software, but I can't do everything I need to do with it, and neither can my users, and neither can my customers. Meanwhile, there are 'closed' or 'non-free' systems that do deliver what we need, and fit the other criteria above. I'm sure a couple of dozen talented programmers and a couple of years would be able to remedy that, but that is completely impractical from a cost and timescale point of view. Live with it. I do.
I strongly suspect that it discriminates in favor of astroturfers. Who else can afford to spend entire working days hanging out here posting and getting enough usage credits to trigger mod points on a more or less regular basis?
The main reason I still hang out here despite my belief that the stories that get rejected for publication here are probably better than the ones we see, instead of digg, is that the information volume on digg is higher than I choose to deal with.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Novell is suddenly cut off from any Linux software it doesn't write in house under a non-GPL license, and their stuff doesn't get integrated into new Open Source releases. What's their value to either MS or Novell investors after that happens?
The other point is that the head of the SAMBA development team just defected to Google, hopefully to be followed by everyone else working on SAMBA who's any good currently drawing a Novell paycheck.
Tech Public Policy stuff
is going to be written to specifically disallow the kind of intellectual property deal Novell made with M$hit.
This cuts them off from anything the community will do that's licensed under GPLv3... i.e. probably everything Novell doesn't write in-house. No more kernel upgrades, and probably no more major applications or upgrades. The only people who'll stay with GPLv2 are going to be Novell employees and SUSE loyalists. What's Novell worth if it's just been unplugged from the Open Source Community? What MS just paid them and whatever can be extracted from the turnip which is SCO.
I'm just glad I found out about this in time, I was forced to change distros from FC6 to have something which would run on my new motherboard. So I went with Debian. Painful transition, but worth it.
Other than that, the head of the SAMBA team will defect to google at the end of the month. Hopefully, taking with him anybody who's good who's working on SAMBA on the Novell payroll with him.
Tech Public Policy stuff
It's like finding the GOOD car in a used car lot!
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
Dutsche Bank is as dirty as they come:
http://www.dbankfraudinfocenter.com/
Remember Skiba? He was an analyst from Dutsche who - in deference to all logic and evidence - predicted that scox would climb to $45/share. For those who don't watch stock prices, scox is about $1 a share now.
Credit Suisse has been dual-sourcing Linux from Red Hat and Novell for some time. They have no plans to drop Red Hat, either (though there are strong pockets in the company that believe Novell's SUSE is a better product than Red Hat).
As for the price tag these companies paid...In at least one instance, the answer is $0.00...for several years. Does that count as a customer?
Now, see, that's just an unfair characterization of the in-depth support you get from Microsoft and their Certified Minion^H^H^H^H^H^HProfessionals. They actually go through 5 steps to provide thorough resolution of problems with Microsoft operating systems:
Vista may even add a "Reset the DRM licensing settings" or something similar, too, making for 20% more service that everyone with Vista will potentially get from Microsoft Support!
I won't even mention how much work those nice Microsoft people will have to put in to altering Linux to make these 5-6 steps applicable to Linux! Good thing they've got Novell to help them with that.
As you can see, this is much more professional than your cruel assessment above. Having to go through all five steps is hard work, after all. Now apologize to the nice Microsoft support people...
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