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AMD Backs openSUSE with Huge New Infrastructure
apokryphos writes "AMD has helped sponsor the progress of openSUSE with leading-edge hardware and development expertise. "AMD is helping to ensure that the openSUSE Build Service continues to be an important collaboration and development platform for developers of all distributions," said Terri Hall, AMD vice president of Commercial Systems Marketing. Are these continued announcements of huge support from large OEMs an indication of a new era?"
I'm curious about this sudden SUSE push and the recent deals with Novell and Microsoft. I'm curious as to what is going on behind the scenes... is Microsoft working on a linux GUI? Something even more sinister? Or perhaps it is just a coincidence... but then again I don't believe in those.
Get a web developer
Save your hardware infrastructure and give me a god damn free driver.
Signed,
ATI user.
Now I am sad.
How is this different than apt-get, or even just using Google to search for packages?
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
but if you really want to help give us some open source drivers for ati graphics cards or at least closed source ones that don't totally suck.
So they donated Intel processors?
I was just thinking the same thing, the past several days have been very dynamic in the way of licensing/FOSS in big business. We have sun, bittorrent, mysql, amd, proprietary AV systems, a DUI driver wins code, NewYorkCountryLawyer, Dell with on-board virtualization, openSuse, and well I'm sure I'm missing something somewhere because /. has had a good story every couple of hours for a few days now. It's almost scary. Ooh, Linux kernel developers coming under fire for not paying enough attention to the desktop, too. Anyone know how Vista is doing these days?
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
I would very much prefer them to support Debian rather than openSUSE.
Volume Pricing on all makes and models of SuSE. Now with an eduction pipe... Get it while it's open and hot!!!
A hushed and hurried voice is then heard off from a distance: Subject to license agreement and acceptance there of. A portion of the funds and proceeds will be distributed to a third party for improving the quality of education for the masses.
And in other news...
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
I think its nice that thier doing this, computers for kids and all. Kinda reminds me of when Icy Bro collaborated with Milli Vanilli back in the 90's. http://www.freewebs.com/icybro
...but who is going to back up AMD? AMD asks for 1.5 billion
Yes, the fact that the MS-Novell deal was about SLES and interopreability, not about making RPM and DEB packages on a remote machine (because that is what the Build Service is in the end)
Sure AMD does not care. Perhaps they just use it, because for them processors are cheap and that is the cheapest way to get advertisement.
All packages are build on an olmost daily basis (e.g. for Factory, that resulted in the now out Beta 1 for openSUSE 10.3) and that needs a bit of power that Novell did not have.
Perhaps AMD will use it as a way to tell people: You want to switch to Linux? Well, we sponsor Novells Build Service, so we are the best choice.
It is strange to see that Linux is winning and everybody is scared of it. Why? Do you WANT it to be an OS for just geeks?
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
We only talk about Vista when there's nothing more important to discuss.
I would very much prefer them to support Debian rather than openSUSE.
Well I'd rather them support Ubuntu and my friend would rather Redhat. My dog likes Gentoo because he loves compiling.
Every time a company tries 'throwing a bone' to the open source community and chooses a system to support (which will inevitably filter to the other distros), the linux geeks go, "But wait.. I like this distro instead."
Just be happy; it's linux.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
"You may make and distribute unlimited copies of the Software outside Your organization provided that: 1) You receive no consideration; and, 2) you do not bundle or combine the Software with another offering""
.. You acquire only a license to use the Software"
.. written notice of termination by either party, or (v) the date on which You breach any of the terms of this Beta Agreement"
.. publish or disclose .. the results of any benchmark test of the Software"
...
"You may not: (1) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software"
"The Software may contain an automatic disabling mechanism that prevents its use after a certain period of time"
"No title to or ownership of the Software is transferred to You
"This Beta Agreement shall terminate upon the earlier of
"You may not
What's the whole point of openSUSE again. If the GPL is such an onerous license then why don't Novell strip all GPL licensed code from SUSE Linux, after all, what's only valuable is the kernel, right 'elsewhere'
davecb5620@gmail.com
Some people do, and those people seem to think the linux system could drop all the new users and common folk, and still retain all of its shiny drivers, applications, and well written code. Those people are morons.
No matter what step Novell takes, till the deal with Microsoft is alive, I'll never touch or recommend this distro. Why AMD, IBM/Lenovo or others push openSUSE they doesn't like Debian's "Social Contract" or The Ubuntu Promise ?
PuTTY makes Windows usable
these companies would give a project money is to get something in return. Perhaps an "Optimized for..." labeling for their processor on that distro? Worked for tech n00bs on mp3 players and the like with Microsoft and their "guarantee" sticker on end-user products.
http://www.mhall119.com
Save your hardware infrastructure and give me a god damn free driver.
Unfortunately I could not agree with you more. I used to be an ATI fan through and through. But when they changed their policy I could not get proper drivers support for my OSes I switched to its main competitor and haven't looked back. But I also suspect the competitor's driver problems with Vista are related.
Seems like hardware vendors are going to have to align themselves with an OS. Similar problems exist with wireless cards and the like. Take Broadcom's stance on open source drivers.
My purchase policy, even if I buy Windows is simple, it supports open source drivers or your off my buy list. Even if I have to buy a PC/laptop for dumping Vista to load XP for short term reasons, I know sooner or later I am going to run Linux on it and want to know the drivers are there.
AMD inherited a marketing nightmare with ATI...and emailing them is useless. I tried.
Y'know, I wouldn't care about the MS monopoly if their OS was actually decent! Bring on MS Linux, if that's what it takes to go mainstream (have the majority of full commercial games and apps being ported over), and as long as it's still Open Source. :p
which is totally what she said
Are these continued announcements of huge support from large OEMs an indication of a new era?"
only if it means there is finally support for these damn Broadcom wireless chips.
"To stop the terrorists."
Yes, you are missing an awful lot . These type of statements where people say "yeah, but MS owns Novell", "Novell sold out to MS" or SUSE is "MS Linux" are plainly just childish (honestly now) and show a clear ignorance of the functioning of the business world. Novell made a business agreement with Microsoft, and it's turned out great for them. Not some general partnership, just an agreement. It would have turned out better (and, as a consequence, better for Linux in general) if a few people didn't spread emotive but baseless statements about it, all running from merely negative headlines, but hey.
What's nearly as astounding are those that are very annoyed by the thought of Microsoft selling Linux. That mindframe couldn't seem any crazier to me. Think about it. Microsoft having to get off their high-horse and finally submit to what many of their customers have been asking for: Linux. While you're out complaining, Novell is actively pursuing the Linux desktop in the enterprise, and they're doing pretty darn well. Anyway, also:
>AMD doesn't care who owns linux
The whole point of Linux and the free software methodology (i.e. the GPL) is that you cannot "own" Linux. No company can "drive it into the ground", so fears there are at least unwarranted.
Yeah, sure, SUSE is a pseudo open-source project which an incredibly significant percentage of the open-source community is working on. Like who? Developers of probably 70% of the applications (and a higher percentage of software) that you regularly use. Like what, you say? Heard of KDE? Heard of GNOME? Heard of OpenOffice.org, the Linux kernel, GCC, ALSA, Compiz? Yes, it's often hard to not use them. :-)
:)
The tagline of the story is perfectly applicable here: money-where-mouth-is. You really don't want SUSE in the OSS community? Put your money where your mouth is: start ripping out all the contributions that they put in.
Anyway, at least be sure that your hate is justified, which it most probably isn't.
First off, I can't speak for everyone, but I can't say it's ever been about winning. It's not about "conquering the desktop" or being "ready for the desktop" Nor is it about being "railroaded" into using Windows. This isn't some petty act of rebellion. It's a simple decision based on needs and desires.
As for your other point:
Until Linux loses the perception that any kid that fancies their self an 3l33t h4x0r can have an awesome clone of Windows for free simply by popping in an Ubuntu CD; until these same kids bother to learn anything about what they're using and not bitch because it's not like Windows in some critically flawed way (from wireless to udev- I've seen it all), I'm all about them staying right the hell away.
It's not elitism to expect the newbies to play by the rules- If they don't want to, they're free to continue their MS piracy campaign. They weren't contributing anything to the codebase or the community. I have no time to waste on petulant children.
RTFM
FTL:
Covenant not to sue each others _customers_ over patents.
That's about as believable as a search engine's "privacy policy". And BitTorrent and MySQL shows just what happens to the community when its contributions become part of big business. And didn't the same thing happen to CDDB? Sorry, the threat is just too large. And as far as I'm concerned, SUSE is a Microsoft product now. As for the link, I want a second opinion. Hopefully we won't need one from a judge.
What?
> That's about as believable as a search engine's "privacy policy".
Why? You think they have no problem with suing each other's customers? If so, why? If not, then why do you care about the deal? BitTorrent and MySQL are curious examples because Novell has never not been a business, and neither has SUSE. If anything, SUSE is more open as a result of the Novell takeover.
> And as far as I'm concerned, SUSE is a Microsoft product now.
If you're going to maintain unsubstantiated beliefs and stick to them then I'm not going to argue with you, and we have no quarrel. If you actually maintain that your statements (i.e. that SUSE is an MS product) bear some actual correspondence with reality instead of just tickling your fancy then we can talk. So tell me, which part of the deal makes them an "MS-owned company"? You think that all deals with money involved necessitate some type of ownership? Do you have any idea what goes on in the business world?
As for the link, I want a second opinion.
Second opinion on what? What is it exactly on there that you dispute? You either maintain some unsubstantiated emotive statement ("Novell sold out", etc) or you have some actual factual statements that are objectively negative; if you do, by all means, please present them.
1. Hate over software is never really justified.
2. The person you where replying too probably doesn't even use Linux or just duel boots Ubuntu to be "cool".
I like OpenSuse and I have been using it for at least 7 or maybe closer to 10 years but it was called Suse back then and frankly I loose track. BTW Ubuntu is pretty nice and I think CentOS great and should bet more attention. I had to throw that in so people wouldn't dismiss me as just a Suse fanboy.
BTW I think you left out all the work that SUSE did with X in your list but it is a good list.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Really, that's swell. But I didn't see anything about 3D chipset documentation. That means if I were to replace my computer today, it would probably have an Intel 965 chipset. (Sure, some people say it's "slow" but it's gotta be faster than my 7-year-old G400MAX. (Right? Anyone know?)) AMD, you don't happen to make processors that will plug into one of those motherboards, do you?
It's weird for a hardware company to fund software whose users they're going to pressure into running on competing hardware.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
f not, then why do you care about the deal?
So far SUSE is still open. For how much longer, nobody but Novell and Microsoft know for sure. That's how it relates to other community based projects being closed. My speculations are based on past performances and the general demeanor of business.
Do you have any idea what goes on in the business world?
Yeah. Prices keep going up. What's that thing? "You don't need to be a chicken to recognize an egg"? I put forth the question to you, Do you know what goes on behind closed doors? Are you ever surprised by savings & loans scandals? Or WorldCom or Enron scandals? I'm not. I'm only disappointed that more of these people don't get caught. Do you actually doubt that they keep at least two sets of books? With the kind of power big business wields, you under some impression that they are not corrupt? Do you believe that every shortage is anything more than a simple disagreement over the price, be it gas, water, electricity, etc.? Please, save the patronizing, okay? I'm not impressed by vague questions made with the intent of displaying some sort of superiority. To me it shows arrogance. We'll see in due time how much influence Microsoft has over Novell and SUSE. A while back somebody tried to point out to me that Sony Entertainment and Sony Electronics are different entities. I needed to point out to that person that the electronics division is loaded with DRM at the behest of the entertainment division. They are not separate. I believe we will soon see the same thing here. I have no reason not to.
What is it exactly on there that you dispute?
That they won't sue. It's best to stay away from people who hang a sword over your head. 235 patents indeed...
What?
If AMD has control of Chipsets, graphics drivers and CPU's they can custom compile for any hardware configuration and ensure that everything works properly.
This is what Linux has needed for a long time, custom built applications compiled for the system downloading them.
If they do this (offer the perfect kernel and drivers) for your hardware they'll attack the MAC cult hardware lockin space, while being based on an open operating system.
It may not stay open for long but it'll probably develop very strong market share.
Sure, they got developers and used to contribute, hell yeah. But now OpenSUSE sold out to Microsoft, you can't simply deny that. And no offense but your link is not example from an unbiased source. No matter how points you get from the inept guys that got mod powers during this post. Regarding all the contributions from SUSE to the OSS commnity, now they are poisoning it, You said gnome, I say how much efforts now come to make it require MS patented technology, you say how much it helped "openoffice", now they have released a bastardified version that uses OpenXML, etc etc etc... Ever heard of novell's efforts to make Linux virtualized in windows so companies can migrate to windows on the server. But no care at all to virtualize windows or make Microsoft allow it, so we could have hopes in Linux for the Desktop?
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
ah fun stuff, looks like I accidentally got an extra blockquote tag, sorry, I guess you can read anyways...
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
I certainly deny it because (i) openSUSE is sponsored by Novell (as is Mono, KDE, GNOME, Kernel, etc), and (ii) "sold out" is one of the most nonsense phrases around. Either back this claim up (which I have no idea how you'd do), or provide some solid substantiation for some serious negativity with the deal. Novell made a business deal with Microsoft; believe it or not business deals happen all the time in the business world. It's a little tiring hearing people say that they "sold out" because it involved money.
>And no offense but your link is not example from an unbiased source.
This is either going to be poisoning the well or an argumentem ad hominem -- both logical fallacies. Either discredit the facts in the source or accept what they say; anything else is meaningless.
>You said gnome, I say how much efforts now come to make it require MS patented technology
Pray tell, what patented technology is this? If you're going to say Mono, then please read the FAQs on Mono's website first. There are incredibly big businesses using Mono, and almost every single distribution (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, etc) ship with Mono as well. There's a reason that they feel ok doing this. Why not find out what it is?
>you say how much it helped "openoffice", now they have released a bastardified version that uses OpenXML, etc etc etc..
Are you serious? Why do you think that? Is Samba "bastardified" because it works with Microsoft? Remember that all distributions are very happy for the OpenXML additions. They are always included. Seriously: it's almost impossible to argue against the deal on technical grounds. Novell is probably the biggest distribution behind the ODF format and OOo, and they've always said that they want that to be the default and it's what they're pushing. To get people from Microsoft though we need to be able to offer them basic interoperability though, and this is one of the most obvious ways.