We will not go to Canossa
Novell, Xandros and Linspire have signed well publicized agreements with Microsoft.
Rumors on the Web have hinted that we might be next on the list. So we would like to clarify our position.
At Mandriva, we believe working in heterogeneous environments is essential to our customers. So, interoperability between the Windows and Linux world is important and must be dealt with, and anything that helps this interoperability is a good thing.
We also believe the best way to deal with interoperability is open standards, such as ODF which we support strongly and we are ready to cooperate with everyone on these topics.
As far as IP is concerned, we are, to say the least, not great fans of software patents and of the current patent system, which we consider as counter productive for the industry as a whole.
We also believe what we see, and up to now, there has been absolutely no hard evidence from any of the FUD propagators that Linux and open source applications are in breach of any patents. So we think that, as in any democracy, people are innocent unless proven guilty and we can continue working in good faith.
So we don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job or to pay protection money to anyone.
We plan to keep developing and distributing innovative and exciting products and making them available to the largest number in the true spirit of open source.
François Bancilhon
June 19th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Thank you, François !
If partnership with Microsoft looks attractive, this means automatically the death of linux distro which signed with it, in the long term.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
What you forgot to say is that Microsoft didn’t even call you.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Pour une boite qui se dit “française”, faire la première annonce en anglais est très douteux …
C’est bien que Mandriva ne soit pas “à la botte” de Microsoft et j’espère que ça le restera.
Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu et maintenant également Mandriva refusant une alliance avec Microsoft, vive le Libre !
June 19th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
[...] Edit 2: The official statement has been released here. For your benefit I have added the text to this post. Novell, Xandros and Linspire have signed well publicized agreements with Microsoft. [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
[...] Mandriva no pactará con Microsoftcorp.mandriva.com/webteam/2007/06/19/we-will-not-go-to-canossa/ por vfmmeo hace pocos segundos [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Good for you Mandriva! You have my support. I’ve been worried lately that my favorite disto was going to cower down to the FUD. Time for another donation to the FSF and my favorite Linux Desktop distro.
For those others paying protection money to the M$ mob, they get what they have coming. Mass defection from the very community that made them who they are today.
Support GPL3.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Thank you very much for being outspoken on this matter. More companies need to do this IMO.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Here here! Glad to see at least one linux distro stand up and be a man.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Julien : Je ne vois pas ou est le probleme. L’anglais permet de toucher le plus grand nombre de personnes. Etant donne que ce message est relaye, cette langue est largement plus adaptee.
Francois : Thanks for this clarification.
June 19th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
“So we don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job or to pay protection money to anyone.”
ooohh someone call a doctor, i fear the faint stench of death in the air. Could this be the end of Microsoft’s monopoly? I can’t help but think all good things come to an end, and although it did lead the way, others are chomping on the bit…
June 19th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
[...] What follows is a letter from Mandriva’s site; http://corp.mandriva.com/webteam/2007/06/19/we-will-not-go-to-canossa/ [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
julien, last time I checked, the rest of the world does not speak french. I strongly doubt your closed minded attitude.
Good luck for Mandriva! Microsoft is going downhill in all cases.
June 19th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I was prepared to hop over to Kubuntu in case Microsoft would “assimilate” you, but as it seems, Mandriva is one of the few companies that, while policies may always be argued of, has strong management that remains true to their community and goals. Many, many thanks to you for clarifying your stance. Now I know I can still recommend Mandriva in the future.
June 19th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Thanks François!
I am long time user and promoter of Mandrake/Mandriva for desktop and business in the US. I have held my breath as M$ has begun this latest assault on our freedoms because I know they are serious about killing free software - particularly Linux - and I fear that commercial distributions are vulnerable, easy prey!
I have much time, energy and money invested in Mandriva, and had feared that you also, might succumb to their predations. While ‘blame’ would be laid on M$ for their disingenuous but powerful methods, I and my customers would necessarily move to another Linux distribution - a sad parting.
While I personally would have prefered a stronger statement, the title of this post and your explicit recognition that the current M$ agreements are, in fact, little more than a ‘protection racket’, make the point nicely.
I now hope that Mandriva has the corporate integrity, and resources, to maintain the position stated here, and I think they do!
Finally, for American readers who may be ignorant of the meaning of the title of this post, ‘We will not go to Canossa’, it refers to a pilgrimage of penance by Henry IV to the fortress at Canossa. It is an expression common in Europe and has the meaning:
‘We will not be coerced into submission’
…neither will we! It really is all about the freedom!
Thanks again, François, vive le Libre!
June 19th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
[...] Mandriva deja saber sus intenciones en respecto a los últimos esfuerzos de Microsoft en la comunidad Linux. Microsoft ha entrado en acuerdos con varias distribuciones de Linux bajo una supuesta protección de posible violación de patentes que Microsoft posee. Ubuntu ya les dijo que no, y esta vez es Mandriva: [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
[...] Matthew Aslett notes that, following Mark Shuttleworth’s posting that ruled out any Microsoft negotiations based on unspecified patent infringement claims, we also have word from another distribution oft-speculated as being "next" on Microsoft’s list: Mandriva. So its 3-3 with Novell, Xandros and Linspire on one side and Red Hat, Ubuntu and Mandriva on the other (as noted here the deals with Samsung, Fuji Xerox and LG Electronics can be considered differently). [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Good job!
Thank you for clarifying Mandriva’s position
Salut,
SinnerP
June 19th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Thanks guys!
June 19th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Merci, Francois!
I apologize for being one of the journalists reporting that you might be next, and I am glad that Mandriva will not play victim to the mafia-style tactics with which Microsoft threatens the GNU/Linux environment.
To echo Julien: Vive le Libre!
June 19th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Bravo. Although I am not a Mandriva user I applaud your position. Those who sign pacts with Microsoft are essentially committing suicide — we will not use their products or services under any circumstances. Hopefully this will help the Linux market to consolidate a bit, which I think is needed.
June 19th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
First of all: innocent unless proven guilty has nothing to do with democracy. Second: “FUD propagators”? “protection money”? For a CEO you don’t sound so professional. Perhaps you should have awaited an invitation from Microsoft to discuss an agreement instead of sounding like a regular Slashdot commenter? That way, you would know what you actually say no too. Perhaps you’d even get to see the list of patents (not likely but perhaps you could have leveraged your position to make them tell you more).
June 19th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
C’est vrai! Vive le Libre!
June 19th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
[...] Francois Bancilhon writes a short missive on the Mandriva blog that the French distro won’t be “going to Canossa” (excellent reference, Francois; and for those of you who slept through World History class, it refers to the village in the Italian Apennines where the Holy Roman emperor Henry IV did penance to reverse his excommunication by Pope Gregory VII back in the 11th century) over Microsoft’s FUD regarding their nebulous patent claims. [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Proud of you guys
June 19th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
I always had faith that Mandriva and Ubuntu would say NON! to this unspecified patent claims FUD.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Good news, maybe a new born for mandriva.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Great !
Thanks a lot Mandriva.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Thank you for you message to the world.
Keep up the good job!
June 19th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
CUDOS TO YOU!
You are to be commended on your position! Isn’t that just what this FUD amounts to; protection money?
Keep up the good work, and KEEP THE FAITH!
June 19th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Yes, way to go Mandriva! I’m glad you’ve called Microsoft’s pathetic patent bluff publicly too.
You are yet another fortress of freedom that the community needs!
June 19th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Julien, stop bitching
English took priority because they want to maximize visibility with all the online sources.
(For Pete’s sake, they couldnt get anything from Shuttleworth so online tech sites trolled his blog where they found a post asking him bluntly whether he was buying protection from the Microsoft mafia and if he was going to continue working with collaborators like Linspire with whom they are working on CNR.)
I give Francois credit for des grosses couilles when he put it plainly about refusing to “..to pay protection money to anyone.”
Shuttleworth is very malleable and doesnt want to use harsh language.
I think the”protection money” is the perfect description of this extortion scheme.
Bravo for calling it as you see it.
Papa Chango
June 20th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Thank you very much, François, for taking the time to make a statement regarding this issue.
I’m very happy and proud to be part of the Mandriva community and a supporter. It’s nice to see that Mandriva’s management shares the same views as I do on this matter.
June 20th, 2007 at 1:31 am
We are free!
Says “no, thanks” to Microsoft!
June 20th, 2007 at 1:32 am
Well Done, i agree. I have no interest in this apart from a moral standpoint, and as a community, linux has a right to stand up for itself and is not wrong in it’s standoint. i do hope the ceo is reading this, maybe he’ll give me job
June 20th, 2007 at 2:08 am
Mandriva will benefit from this decision to remain free and preserve the FLOSS IT world from software patent appropriations/taxations by its current main enemy, Microsoft.
The FLOSS community is not as weak in terms of economical influence as it could seem. A lot of technical decisions, as to select which Linux distribution, are taken by technical people from the open source community, not by higher level decision-makers that perhaps aren’t yet aware enough of the current (no) software patents situation in Europe.
Mandriva has taken the right decision and indeed has done very right shouting it out publicly for public mocking of others.
But don’t care a bit, Mandriva, that no matter if you infringe silly software patents (everybody does), Microsoft won’t be as stupid as to sue you in Europe, the main market for Mandriva and the riskiest courts where to lose its (ilegal) software patents.
Europe should continue to being totally free of software patent extortions, and Mandriva has advanced one more step on this way.
Merci, mes amis,
Alberto Barrionuevo.
FFII Vice President
June 20th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Excuse-moi pour écrire en anglais
I am very glad to hear this and I really appreciate Mandriva coming forward with such a plain, direct statement.
I think you’re chosing the right way to do business. Your confidence from the community will grow at the expense of the other distroes that rather chose to “go to Canossa”.
June 20th, 2007 at 4:00 am
@julien:
although I speak little world langauge, your message rings to me in a clear tone! WE MUST UNITE! WOOT!
June 20th, 2007 at 5:07 am
[...] We now have three Linux distributions wrapped up in this patent debate. It was speculated that Mandriva may be next. Based on the profile of the latest two companies, it seemed a logical guess if you had to make one. It’s good to see that they have gone on the record saying that it’s not going to happen. Red Hat already rejected the idea and Mark made his feelings very clear in this post: [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 5:22 am
Thank you! I appreciate your commitment to F/OSS!
–Clark
June 20th, 2007 at 6:02 am
[...] We will not go to Canossa — Novell, Xandros and Linspire have signed well publicized agreements with Microsoft. — Rumors on the Web have hinted that we might be next on the list. So we would like to clarify our position. — At Mandriva, we believe working in heterogeneous environments is essential to our customers. Source: Mandriva Blog Author: François Bancilhon Link: http://corp.mandriva.com/webteam/2007/06/19/we-will… Techmeme permalink [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 9:12 am
[...] Mandriva und microsoft: Keinen Gang nach Canossa Laut einem Blog-Eintrag von Francois Bancilhon wird es auch zwischen Mandriva und Microsoft kein Patentabkommen geben. "Wir glauben nur an das, was wir sehen, und bisher hat es absolut keine stichhaltigen Beweise von irgendeinem FUD Propagandisten gegeben dass Linux und Open Source Anwendungen im Konflikt mit irgendwelchen Patenten stehen" , so Bancilhon. Mandriva würde eh nicht viel von den aktuellen Softwarepatentbestrebungen halten. "Wir denken nicht, dass es notwendig ist, einen speziellen Schutz für unsere Arbeit von Microsoft zu bekommen oder Schutzgeld an irgendjemanden zu zahlen" so Bancilhon weiter. Mandriva ist auf jeden Fall für einen konstruktiven Austausch beider Betriebssysteme aber der Weg das zu bewerkstelligen ginge eher über offene Standards wie ODF, welches Mandriva stark unterstützt. Mandriva plane weiterhin innovative und faszinierende Produkte zu entwickeln und/oder zu vertreiben um sie im Sinne der Opensource Bewegung einer größt möglichen Anzahl an Menschen zugänglich zu machen. Quelle: Mandriva Blog » We will not go to Canossa cu Gargi __________________ The more you suffer the more it shows you really care! offspring [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Bien dit! Mais…
Can Mandriva afford to defend an SCO-type claim? SCO had no case either, but they managed not to get struck out for want of prosecution, long after they demonstrated that they had no claim. Was Microsoft’s famous figure of 235 patents the same imaginary number as the one SCO used?
Microsoft keeps to the idea that if it can kill the opposition, quality doesn’t matter. It has said so publicly.
I am a lawyer and my attitude is the same as Mandriva’s. But I don’t want to be sent broke, nor does Mandriva.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Thanks for that clarification François, you have confirmed my assessment of Mandriva’s position.
The problem with the agreements made between Novell and Microsoft, Linspire and Microsoft and Xandros and Microsoft is that in each case the agree is designed to protect and enhance Microsoft’s proprietary standards, and document formats, not promote genuine interoperability, or vendor neutrality.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:37 am
Pourquoi une annonce en anglais serait-elle douteuse? Le problème concerne principalement les pays anglophones. Donc il est normal d’écrire en anglais. Ceci dit, je suis surpris positivement par la position claire de Mandriva, que je pensais plutôt voir être les prochains à signer un contrat avec Microsoft.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:39 am
To Julien: I apologize, but while I understand French, I cannot write it very well. Why does it bother you so much that the first announcement is in English? It’s not my native language either, but the fact of the matter is, most users of the distribution understand English while only a minority can read French.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Yeah, Right Julien, huuttepuuttepuut, oui huuutteutuuttetuut, chateaux migraine, trottoir, tuuuttepuuuute huuuut, vivre Linux!
June 20th, 2007 at 10:47 am
[...] Link to CEO of Mandriva: We will not go to Canossa - No deal with Microsoft [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Je suis tout à fait de l’avis de François Bancilhon, l’opérabilité c’est bien, mais ça ne peut pas justifier un racket.
Sinon, pour l’annonce en français, et bien il faut te réveiller, Mandriva n’est pas uniquement destinée aux français hein!!!
June 20th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Thank You!
Compatibility with a suicidal monopoly?
Where’s the logic in that?
No FUD for me thank you.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:36 am
You’re totally right not to pay protection money to anyone. As far as I know, the only one who ask someone to pay protection money is the mafia.
Your support for free software and against software patents won’t be forgot.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:52 am
[...] permalink Ich poste mal hier rein, da ich denke man sollte nicht wegen jedem Distributor, der so ein Abkommen ablehnt einen Thread aufmachen. Ein Link sagt mehr als tausend Worte, Mandriva wird auch kein Abkommen annehmen heise online - Mandriva: Kein "Canossa-Gang" nach Redmond Stellungnahme von Mandriva: Mandriva Blog » We will not go to Canossa __________________ [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
COOL mandriva!!!
June 20th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
“we don’t believe it is necessary”
Does this mean you won’t sign an MS patent deal?
When Xandros signed their MS patent deal, I think their CEO also said he didn’t believe it was necessary, it was just a reassurance, or it was just at their customers or Microsoft’s request, or whatever.
So, if you’re not going to sign an MS patent deal, can you put it in firmer words?
June 20th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
[...] Do outro lado da barricada, Ubuntu, Debian, RedHat e agora a Mandriva através do seu blogue, vem dizer que não concordam com esta espécie de protecção virtual sobre qualquer coisa pouco clara, e manifestam o seu descontentamento com o sistema de patentes em vigor. Para além do mais desafiam a Microsoft a expor quais as patentes que realmente estariam a violar antes de começar qualquer tipo de conversação. [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Thank you! I was hoping you guys, along with Debian and Redhat could hold on. You three the last of the big ones and I think it is symbolically important that you don’t cave. Who cares about Xandros and Linspire? I never hear about them.
But today on a podcast I heard (I’m a little behind) of the Linux Link Tech Show, an OO.o developer was talking about how much he loves Mandriva
June 20th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Im a happy Mandriva user im willing to go on buying the Mandriva Linux Powerpack every single year till there will be this Mandriva!
Thanks and Good Job to Everyone of You.
June 20th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
[...] De este modo Mandriva se pone de la postura mayoritaria de los seguidores de GNU/Linux, software libre y código abierto. En este enlace podéis leer el comunicado completo. [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Bravo Mandriva!
June 20th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Je suis utilisateur d’Ubuntu, mais je suis heureux de voir que Mandriva veut rester libre et souhaite travailler pour le bien de la communauté. Bravo pour cette volonté d’indépendance, continuez comme ça, et longue vie à Mandriva.
June 20th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
[...] corp.mandriva.com [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I’m not a Mandriva user, but I want to greet with everyone of you! Well done!
June 20th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Well said M. Bancilhon. I never thought it likely that community-oriented Mandriva, who release all their tools under the GPL (unlike say Xandros), would knuckle under to Microsoft. But such decisions aren’t always easy; thanks for going on record so strongly and putting all our minds at rest. I’m happy to be able to continue using Mandriva.
June 20th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
[...] Mandriva Blog » We will not go to Canossa So we don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job or to pay protection money to anyone. Published in: [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
[...] Mandriva has just posted some official looking blog statement announcing their stance against a Microsoft deal of any sort, joining Ubuntu and Red Hat. So the count seems to be 3 and 3 now? What will be interesting is how distros step forward in the coming months. Will Debian sign a deal next? I keeeeed I keeeeed. Will completely unaffected smaller distros make announcements, not out of solidarity, but to get some cheap press and new users? [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
[...] http://corp.mandriva.com/webteam/2007/06/19/we-will-not-go-to-canossa/ Posted by Slack Filed in [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Venceremos!
June 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Way to go Mandrake! I wasn’t sure what to do when Novell decided to whore with Microsoft, but I think I’ll move to Mandrake now!
June 20th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
This is a welcome news from your side. Thanks to everybody at Mandriva.
This proves Linux and Open-Source community still together and don’t want to break down before micro$oft.
Together we can, together we will… make the world free from software patents and commercialization.
A Mandriva fan from India.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Congratuations on your brave decission to stand against menacing monopolies. This is the way to go: All the Linux community and your users comunity stand with you.
Thank you for doing the right thing.
No I wonder wether along with other smaller distros you can make a “resistance common front” (viva la resistance!) against patent racketeering from Microsoft or any other potential patent trolls menacing Mandriva or any of the mates at the Free Software community.
Migh be a good idea to make a joint statement alongside the EFF,FSF, the FF.II., pubpat, and smaller or regional distros around the world like LimuX, Linex, Guadalinex, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Slackware…. in order to stand against software patents and the patent mafias and to become stronger and more prepared against future corporate assaults: As the Linux project and the Free Software philosophy gains market share, and adoption, for sure the old proprietary software business model will try to attack the weakest members of the community, so we must prepare and stand united.
Again, congratulations and all my best.
SubSónica website on technology and freedoms
June 20th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Après les compromissions et les déclarations évasives des derniers mois, il est rafraichissant de lire enfin une position de principe ferme, énoncée clairement et sans ambigüité. Tôt ou tard, il faudra mettre un terme aux tactiques d’intimidation de Microsoft, ne serait-ce que pour le principe. Peut-être que François Bancilhon vient de lancer le mouvement.
June 20th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I’ve been using and promoting Mandrake/Mandriva for desktop PC for some years now. i was mind-worry about mandriva becoming microsoft-paid, a blow to the hole Philosophy here. i’m VERY glad to read the news, as all here! i’ll be pushing Mandriva up as i can. My loved distro!! =)
GO AHEAD FLY FREE!! WE WON’T LET YOU DOWN!! =)
June 20th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Tain, je comprends pas …
Pourquoi faut il que, pour une news, une distro. et un François Bancilhon FRANCAIS, le message du blog soit en ANGLAIS.
Je m’attendais à un super message, compréhensible, clair, tourné vers l’orginalité de cette distro. dans le fait qu’elle soit française. Et rien … Même pas une trad. ou un double post français/anglais…
Je venais de ma ubuntu, me daisant que peut-être re-ferai - je un pas vers Mandriva en entendant parler du courage de la distro. de dire aux gens qu’elle ne suivra pas MS et en tentant de me convaincre que le fait que ce soit dit bien après (et pas avant) Canonical n’est qu’un hasard… Mais voyant la tête de ce post, j’en doute un peu …
Je pense (voila le côté constructif de mon post) que tant que Mandriva n’assumera pas plus son originalité, elle restera très marginale. Conquérez votre public avant de conquérir le public anglophone et mondial. Prenez contact avec les entrerpises de vous-même, prenez contact avec la grande distribution, avec le gouvernement, les institutions, les écoles d’ingé. Faites que le “made in France” de la distro. soit un atout plutôt qu’un défaut qu’il faut cacher …
Si c’était comme ca, le fait que Mandriva ne cède pas devant Microsoft irait de soi.
Bon, j’en reste là . Bonne soirée.
PS : Excusez du ton brutal au début, j’ai repris mes esprits au cours de la rédaction.
PS2 : François Bancilhon je t’aime !
June 20th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Paris vaut bien une MS.
Why don’t you sign the shit, get the money, free indemnification for patents which are maybe not even there and hand the dirty Microsoft money over to the FFII to lobby for reforms of the patent system.
I strongly believe patent reform is all about lobby resources available.
June 20th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
>>So we think that, as in any democracy, people are innocent unless proven guilty
Do you even know what democracy means ? It has nothing to do with judicial system.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
[...] Surgieron rumores que decÃan que Mandriva Linux podrÃa llegar a un acuerdo con Microsoft por el tema de la violación de pantentes. Pero estos rumores son totalmente falsos ya que François Bancilhon, CEO de Mandriva, ha publicado una nota desmintiendo oficialmente los rumores sobre el supuesto pacto. (Nota traducida en Blogdrake) [...]
June 20th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Good on you, Mandriva. Don’t allow yourselves to get sucked into the Microsoft vortex. With precious few exceptions (e. g. Citrix), those who do have regretted it. Stay strong.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:12 am
This absolutely solidifies my support (membership) for Mandriva! I wold observe, however that in my youth, when I was an insurance adjuster, a supervisor once said to me “John, you should get as much information as possible from people before you tell them to go to Hell. They don’t talk to you much after that.” Perhaps you should have worked MS over for as much inflormation as possible before you kicked them out the door.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:01 am
[...] Mandriva [...]
June 21st, 2007 at 3:03 am
por favor no firmen nada con estos muertos de microsof, linux es una maza y estan perdiendo porqeu vista es una porqueria………….
June 21st, 2007 at 6:43 am
[...] Update 3:Â I note, via an entry on the Boycott Novell website, that Mandriva’s CEO has written: [...]
June 21st, 2007 at 8:17 am
Thanks you Mandriva! Russia with you!
June 21st, 2007 at 10:21 am
Good work François Bancilhon and wish more better work
June 21st, 2007 at 10:26 am
well, Mandriva won’t be evil
I think you are too pleasant with m$… “we don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job or to pay protection money to anyone.”
It would be a pitty… m$ has no weapons against linux but money and partners.
June 21st, 2007 at 10:27 am
well, Mandriva won’t be evil
I think you are too pleasant with m$… “we don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job or to pay protection money to anyone.”
just like if you feared them…
It would be a pitty… m$ has no weapons against linux but money and partners.
June 21st, 2007 at 11:00 am
Bonjour.
Et bravo pour cette déclaration ,mais pour une distro qui se dit française ,faire une declaration en anglais est deja un pas vers Microsolft !!!Imaginez une distro en anglais ou on parlerait français ?
Sur ceux vive le libre et vive Mandriva !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 21st, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Bonjour,
Je réponds ici en Français parce que mon message est en rapport avec une urgence politique qui se joue en France en ce moment, même si la question est internationale.
J’ai bien noté dans le message de François Bancilhon le paragraphe suivant:
“We also believe the best way to deal with interoperability is open standards, such as ODF which we support strongly and we are ready to cooperate with everyone on these topics.”
Puisque Mandriva est donc un supporter du standard ODF, on peut s’étonner de l’absence de représentant de cette entreprise au sein de la Commission de Normalisation des Formats de Documents Révisables, récemment créée au sein de l’AFNOR, et qui est censée décider quel sera, le 2 septembre prochain, la position de la France à l’égard du projet de standard international Office Open XML, développé et soutenu par Microsoft. On sait que l’objectif stratégique de cet Open XML est de créer la confusion sur les formats bureautiques à travers la validation d’un double standard.
Ma question à François Bancilhon est donc la suivante: en tant qu’enterprise française directement concernée par l’ouverture du marché de la bureautique à la concurrence, qu’attendez-vous pour vous impliquer dans ce débat ?
June 21st, 2007 at 1:42 pm
This is a great statement and it is very important not to negotiate with terrorists and bullys such as m$!
June 21st, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I would like to thank you for your firm position and your dedication to principles of open source community. Also it is great to see someone who is not afraid of MS bullshit. It is amazing that MS is actually making money in such obscene way. If the trend continues we might arrive into a situation when MS will be getting money for something they never even tried to develop.
June 21st, 2007 at 4:00 pm
[...] O director da Mandriva informou através do seu blog que a Mandriva não pretendia assinar qualquer parceria com a Microsoft. Considera que não precisa de qualquer tipo de protecção por parte da empresa de Bill Gates até porque ainda não veu nenhuma prova sobre a alegada acusação de violação de patentes. Reconhece que a interoperabilidade é de facto importante e desejável mas não através de acordos duvidosos. Isso consegue-se através de formatos livres tais como ODF. [...]
June 21st, 2007 at 4:05 pm
[...] “Wir treten keinen Gang nach Canossa an”, so Mandriva-Chef François Bancilhon in seinem Blog. Es gäbe keinerlei Gründe sich vom Redmonder Konzern “schützen” zu lassen. [...]
June 21st, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Vive La Mandriva!
June 21st, 2007 at 5:42 pm
[...] In a statement on his company blog, Francois Bancilhon, CEO of Paris-based Mandriva, said, “We don’t believe it is necessary for us to get protection from Microsoft to do our job, or to pay protection money to anyone.” [...]
June 21st, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Hi there,
I have a almost 20 web servers running on mandriva already. And was planning to have more.
But to be safe.. I am considering another option in case mandriva tends to take the path of novell and others.
Cheers
Peter
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Thanks Mandriva !
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Thumbs up to Mandriva!
Keep on the good work François!
greetings from Toulouse…
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Mandriva! Merci Beaucoup Mandriva! Molto Graci Mandriva! Muchos Gracias Mandriva! Danke Mandriva! Shukria Mandriva! Cpyceeba Mandriva! She Shu Mandriva!
-Matt
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Thanks!, I’m not actually a Mandriva user, but I’m happy that the first distro I’ve ever used it’s not going to stop supporting Free Open Source Software!
Again, Thanks a lot for this decision!
Viva la libertad, viva Mandriva!
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
You have my support! Microsoft should stop this FUD rubbish and show us proof!
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Nice, keep up the great work!
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Thank you for taking a stance against these ridiculous bullies.
You show the morals and ethics of those who have paid up to these gangsters for what they are: spineless - and worse, prepared to sell the whole OS community down the river.
They’ve insulted everyone contributing to OS and have effectively said (without even ASKING for evidence) “Yep, you’ve caught us out. We rip off code”
Damn and curse this insane software patent nonsense…
June 22nd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Et bien, c’est tout simplement pour cela qu’on est là !
Tchao !
Julio
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Linux 4ever !!!!!!
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:19 pm
[...] Annonce de François Bancilhon, Mark Shuttleworth et Red Hat. [...]
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Muito Bom Mandriva!
Diga não a MICROSOFT!
NÃO A SOFTWARES PRIVADOS!
:DDDD
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Bravo!! il faut tenir bon!!
Les “anciens” d’unix s’y remettent et la jeune génération fonde beaucoup d’espoirs.
Le mouvement du “libre” est amorcé et il ne faut pas le freiner ou l’arrêter…
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:07 pm
[...] Então, quero esclarecer a posição de nossa empresa sobre isso�, escreveu o CEO mundial da empresa, François Bancilhon, no blog corporativo da Mandriva. [...]
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Good for Mandriva…and good for you.
You have made a wise decision and I am sure you will enjoy the support of the community in this.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:36 am
[...] A negativa da Mandriva foi comunicada pelo CEO da companhia, François Bancilhon, em seu blog. Sua declaração veio em resposta a rumores circulando na internet, sobre a possibilidade de aderir aos acordos com a Microsoft. [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:34 am
Thank you and just go on like this…
AdminG from Hungary
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:55 am
Thank You and highly appreciate your decision.
I have been using mandriva for some time now, and it feels really nice(and content) that mandriva is taking this stance and making it loud and clear
You have taken the right decision and the righteousness of the decision will take care of the rest…
Long Live Freedom!
June 23rd, 2007 at 12:14 pm
[...] Mais c’est autour des principaux acteurs du monde du libre notamment Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu - voir l’annonce sur son propre blog) puis François Bancilhon (Mandriva- voir l’annonce sur son blog) d’exprimer leur point de vue rappelant qu’il ne s’engageront pas aux côtés de Microsoft. [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
http://www.linuxtoday.com/it_management/2007062202826OPMDLL
And Mandriva? Why was its stance so important to the cause? Because right now, Mandriva is hurting too. Of all of the distribution companies that could have potentially gained something from dealing with Redmond, Mandriva certainly fit the bill. They’ve been through bankruptcy. They’ve not landed any big deployment deals lately (at least, as far as we know). And despite putting out a great product, they have had to watch as other Linux companies pass them by.
With the exception of the bankruptcy proceedings, that’s very similar to situations faced by Xandros and Linspire. In fact, one could argue that the whole bankruptcy situation made the situation worse for Mandriva.
But given this hardship, did Mandriva fold?
No, they did not. They stood up for what was right. They stood up for what was true. It may not have been the easy thing to do, but they did it anyway.
And no matter what company or distribution you prefer to use, I think we should all give Mandriva a big round of applause for doing the right thing when it would have been so easy to take the deal and bolster their company’s bottom line.
So yes, Microsoft landed Novell, Xandros, and Linspire. But they didn’t get the biggest Linux company. Or the one that’s the most popular right now. Or even the one that perhaps could have used the help more than any other distro.
That, my friends, is something to cheer about.
June 23rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Excuse moi pour ecrire en francaise
Julien est un petit chauvin
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Great. Let Big Brother know he is not the only innovative and smart person/company out there. Software is like language, very fluid and adaptable. Open source in open language in true innovation.
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
[...] “Interoperability between the Windows and Linux world is important and must be dealt with, and anything that helps this interoperability is a good thing,” wrote Mandriva’s Bancihon. “We also believe what we see, and up to now, there has been absolutely no hard evidence from any of the FUD propagators that Linux and open source applications are in breach of any patents.” [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Say NO to the Bigger !
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Thanks, although I do not agree with interoperability between something working and something that does not. On the other hand, the day there will be any sort of agreement in between mdv and microshit will be the day where I’ll be throwing away mdv into the bin. And I hope all the guys in cooker would do the same.
Chris.
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:54 pm
@HenryV : You don’t have understood what I mean with my post … I’m not “chauvin”. I can read English without problems but it’s not the case of most Mandriva users.
Mandriva (and the CEO of Mandriva) are “chauvin” (see the complain of Mandriva about the switch to Ubuntu of the “Assemblée Nationale”) but for main news they don’t write in French (and English) but only in English. A French corp must write in French too. It isn’t a question of “chauvinism” !
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Parabéns Mandriva pela posição tomada, por isso o Linux é o que é hoje uma grande comunidade que só tem a crescer ainda mais.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:33 pm
[...] Mandriva, the company formerly known as Mandrakesoft, that publishes the Mandriva GNU/Linux operating system says on a posting on the company blog by CEO François Bancilhon that there will be no cross-licensing pact with Microsoft. Mandriva has offices in the U.S., France, and Brazil and sells in more than 140 countries through dedicated channels and through the the company online store. [...]
June 24th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Hi, I believe that it’s OK that there are more than one OS system suppliers. It’s OK that Microsoft tries to overtake the whole branche, but I believe it’s also OK that some companies refuse it. I’m not so keen on the thougth that we have only one supplier for system sofware for home users. With having enough users who won’t use Microsoft, Linux or another version of an OS system will keep existing. So if you are against the fact that Microsoft is trying to overtake different OS systems, support the systems who don’t want to cooperate with Microsoft. The majority rules. Create what you want to create. For more information about getting to your goal, check http://www.avatarepc.com. With kind regard. Harro
June 24th, 2007 at 8:29 am
So you choose for your own stupidity and not for what’s best for the endusers. Then also stop complaining that MS assists 78% of the Internet community clients.
June 25th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Hurray, hurray!
Nobody likes a monopoly and even more important it’s a bad thing. Whatever you may think of any OS or company a monopoly is bad and I’m glad this next attempt to really monopolise the industry by microsoft has been stopped, at least by enough players. So zapper stop complaining that MS doesn’t assist 100% of the internet community clients.
Joepie!
last time I checked, the rest of the world does not speak english either ^)
June 25th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Francois Bancilhon, thank you for outspeaking such foul FUDs from Redmond with nothing less than firm and echoing frankness. Congratulations!!! Parabéns!!! Félicitations!!!
June 25th, 2007 at 9:37 am
[...] 　Mandrivaã?®æœ€é«˜çµŒå–¶è²¬ä»»è€…（CEO）ã?§ã?‚ã‚‹Francois Bancilhonæ°?ã?¯å…ˆé€±ã€?ã?†ã‚?ã?•ã?«å??ã?—ã€?Microsoftã?®æ¬¡ã?®æ??æ?ºç›¸æ‰‹ã?¯Mandrivaã?§ã?¯ã?ªã?„ã€?ã?¨ ブãƒã‚° ã?«æ›¸ã??込んã?§ã?„る。 [...]
June 25th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Pour répondre à Chiuchu :
Pour information, Mandriva au Brésil vends quelque chose comme 2000 distrib’ par jour, pré-installée sur des oridinateurs par accord OEM.
Mandriva est également vendu pré-installé en Pologne et Roumanie il me semble.
Au Brésil il me semble qu’ elle est vu comme une distribution “haut de gamme” contrairement à la distribution pre-installée (origine russe) par les divers services publics gouvernementaux.
Donc ne t’ inquiètes pas, Mandriva Mondiale n’ est pas un “mot de demain”.
En fait paradoxalement c’ est sur sa terre de naissance que Mandriva semble souffrir d’ une image écornée, et qui traine cela comme un boulet. (ce qui lui nuit certainement à l’ internationnal)
un petit clin d’ oeil pour le message en Anglais :
c’ est logique que les messages “corpo” soit en anglais, et s’ ils devaient être publiés en 2 langues en même temps, il est fort probable que cela soit en espagnol / portugais plutôt qu’ en français.
Pour ces accords entre Microsoft et Novell / Linspire / Xandros : ils ne concernent que les USA pour la partie législative. De plus toujours pour cette partie repose plus sur un FUD que sur des preuves claires (…) Enfin, en plus du fait que cela ne concerne pas ni l’ Europe, ni l’ Amerique du sud, ni L’ Inde, ni la Chine… Les Democrates ont annoncés qu’ ils allaient réformer ce système de “”brevets”" (qui ne porte de brevets que le nom, voir l’ origine réelle de ceux-ci). Novell et l’ EFF annonce un partenariat pour informer et faire du lobbying à ce sujet. Et même de grands noms chez les Républicains trouvent cette législatiion “contre-productive”… (papiers relayés entre autre par Libé et les Echos il me semble)
Donc le système actuel de brevets aux usa risque de sauter pas longtemps après les prochaines échéances éléctorales américaines.
Les accords ne porteraient alors plus que sur, il me semble, les accords “d’ interopérabilité” c’ est à dire sur l’ acceptation d’ abandon de formats vraiments libres vers des formats made in microsoft.
un peu de suputation :
il est fort probable que cela ne soit que ça pour le moment, à savoir une position de status-quo et de tentative de conserver la main sur certaines choses (formats par exemple)… Mais que tout cela ne soit que le premier pas de Microsoft. Et que ce dernier puisse nous surprendre (en bien j’ espère) dans un futur pas si lointain. L’ amorce de virage actuel vers du “service online” (du moins une corde de plus à son arc pour le moment) c ‘est avant tout du “service”
Microsoft essaie de défendre son bifteak Vista mais ça devient de plus en plus dur… Espérons que Microsoft saura prendre un virage (en douceur) pour le bien de tous, lui y compris.
(quoi je rêve ? meuhhh laissez moi réver.. et puis dans suputation il y a …)
mes 2 cents
June 25th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
[...] Last Tuesday, Paris-based Mandriva became the third Linux vendor within five days to say it isn’t interested in signing a licencing deal with Microsoft to avoid possible infringement claims. A Mandriva blog posting to that effect by Mandriva CEO Francois Bancilhon followed similar declarations by officials at Red Hat and Canonical, which oversees Ubuntu Linux. [...]
June 25th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Mandrivia team you all are heroes… thanks to keep us away of the starving wolf out there…
June 26th, 2007 at 12:44 am
[...] VÃa: Mandriva Blog var uri = ‘http://impes.tradedoubler.com/imp?type(js)g(16187712)a(1332684)’ + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11); document.write(”); ¿Microsoft Vista, el sistema menos seguro que existe? [...]
June 27th, 2007 at 10:46 am
This is where we fight!
This is where they DIE!
HOOOA MANDRIVA!!!
June 27th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Thank you!
I will continue to use and suggest Mandriva to my friends because Mandriva will remain free (obviously, free as in speech!).
I’m sure that GNU/Linux and our distro will always getting better, and even more and more people won’t need MS Windows any more!
Regards
gerlos
June 27th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
[...] What is most unusual about Linspire Inc.’s compliance with Microsoft regarding GNU/Linux’ apparent IP infringement is the announcement made by Linspire’s CEO, Kevin Carmony, stating that Linspire does not believe that GNU/Linux infringes upon any of Microsoft’s claimed patents. If Linspire’s CEO was of the opinion that GNU/Linux did not infringe upon Microsoft’s IP, what reason did the Corporation have in order comply with Microsoft’s request of admittance and furthermore transfer funds to Microsoft in order to indemnify its Users? The recently announced GNU GPLV3 (GNU General Public License) which accompanies Open Source software protects Linux Users against possibilities of legal recourse therefore Kevin Carmony could have refused to comply with Microsoft’s demand; as Red Hat Inc., Mandriva Corp. and Canonical Ltd. have announced. [...]
June 28th, 2007 at 12:11 am
[...] Pour faire taire des rumeurs, Francois Bancilhon, directeur général de Mandriva, assure que son entreprise n’est pas la prochaine sur la liste, où figurent les éditeurs Novell, Xandros et Linspire. «L’interopérabilité entre Windows et le monde Linux est importante, et doit être assurée. Tout ce qui le permet est une bonne chose, mais les standards ouverts sont la meilleure solution», indique-t-il sur son blog. [...]
June 28th, 2007 at 9:13 am
I think one commenter had it dead on about consolidating the linux market. It is long overdue, and it’s time to trim the fat.
June 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Thanks Mandriva for their position!
I’ve been a Redhat/Fedora user from the very first time I ever used Linux, but this doesn’t matter as we’re all on the same ship, aren’t we? Therefore hearing about a Linux distro which decided to continue the Linxu (FOSS) way is really gladenning.
Wish you good luck!
Bahman
June 28th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I choosed MANDRIVA also for THIS !!!
Thanks
June 29th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
This is good news. I’ve been a Mandriva user for over 5 years. I used to buy every other release in the past but now I am buying every release since 2006. You guys at Mandriva can count on my $70 or $80 for Powerpack with every release to support the good work and your distro is worth every penny.
Thanks for standing up. We are all proud of you guys.
Regards
Neranjana
June 30th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Nuestro deber como padres es no dejar como esclavos a nuestros hijos en manos de una corporación que siempre les pedira pagos durante decenios y tal vez siglos.
Y peor aun que se apropien de las ideas, para formar nuevos conceptos. El equivalente es como si todos y cada uno de nosotros le tuvieramos que pagar y le pidieramos permiso al inventor de deteminado alfabeto, por escribir una carta y comunicarla. ES ABSURDO.
Hagamos que nuestros hijos usen el software libre, y mucho mas ahora que ya lograron (los aguerridos de GPL) un standart universal en los programas de uso en oficinas y demas.
Impidamos que algun dia tengamos que pagarle a una corporación por nuestros propios pensamientos.
July 1st, 2007 at 8:45 pm
I do adore them… Thank you, Mandriva!
July 12th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
[...] o quantomeno pagare una licenza. L’amato cappello rosso ha risposto (come già hanno fatto Mandriva ed Ubuntu, Mandriva non andrà a Canossa, eh eh) che l’interoperabilità è una cosa per loro [...]
July 13th, 2007 at 7:58 am
[...] - Linuxbedrijf Mandriva sluit geen overeenkomst met Microsoft. Dat schrijft het op het bedrijfweblog. Eerder weigerde de bekende Linuxmaker Ubuntu ook al zo’n [...]
July 29th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Je trouve que cette décision vous honore (mandriva). Comme j’ai cru le comprendre vous pensez qu’une compatibilité des systèmes est une bonne chose. J’acquiesce positivement et dirait même qu’une extension compatible pour tous les systèmes dans chaque type de logiciels serait un plus…
Cependant il ‘ai pas acceptable de subir un racket qui seerai la mort de la distro pour avoir renié ces origine.
Vous n’avez pas vendu votre âme au diable et je troue cela rassurant. Je vais donc si vous êtes d’accord continuer a travailler avec vous puisque votre philosophie est compatible avec la mienne et plus largement celle de mes collègues de l’éducation nationale).
Bonne continuation, le meilleur est a venir pour peut que l’on aille à lui. (Jeff, it’s me)
July 31st, 2007 at 1:02 am
[...] Kevin Carmony could have refused to comply with Microsoft’s demand; as Red Hat Inc., Mandriva Corp. and Canonical Ltd. have [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Respect
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:35 pm
[...] The interoperability and patent deals between Microsoft and various Linux distributors and other companies became a hot topic in the Linux world recently. After several articles were printed speculating that Mandriva might be the next to sign such a deal, we decided to make a definitive statement to remove any doubt about the issue: we will not sign any patent agreement with Microsoft. We believe properly defined, open industry standards are the best route to interoperability, and that Microsoft has yet to demonstrate any plausible claims of patent infringement in Linux. The full statement by Mandriva CEO Francois Bancilhon is available here: http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/06/19/we-will-not-go-to-canossa/ [...]
August 4th, 2007 at 3:56 am
The first Mike said: “Second: “FUD propagatorsâ€?? “protection moneyâ€?? For a CEO you donâ