will start with a proposition that I repeat rather often: Alexa ranks are flawed. Usually, for most sites, they are utterly meaningless.

It is difficult to argue this when faced with Alexa-happy people, but the figures cannot be trusted. It is a toolbar that acts in a similar way to spyware which drives these ranks. The A9 toolbar for Firefox used to have the same effect. Recently however, Microsoft grabbed A9 by the balls and forced them to drop the toolbar. No more Alexa manipulation on Macs and Linux boxes. So where do we end up?

Alexa aligns with Webmasters’ surfing habits. Netcraft figures, on the other hand, align better with system administrators’ surfing habits. The two can intersect. The shown figures are, by default, calculated from a three-month average of pageviews. One can view daily reach though to see how it goes willy-nilly when a few regular visitors use the toolbar. The exception to this might be the very top sites, although the definition of traffic still matters.

Manipulation gets harder at that stage where top sites get ranked. Many people game Alexa as well. Do not trust Alexa ranks. Ever. Use Netcraft if you want something that’s not just an alternative, but is also better in the sense that fewer people game it. Here are some example statistics from two top site.

• Netcraft rank for Netscape: 341^st
• Netcraft rank for Digg: 867^th
• Alexa rank for Netscape: 479^th
• Alexa rank for Digg: 79^th

See? No alignment between Netcraft and Alexa figures at all. Not even for top sites. These so-called ‘realistic’ figures collide and contradict one another. Alexa has become one these “everybody steals, so I can as well” sort of thing… grossly biased. While people continue to game Alexa it remains a strange animal.

Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)

NYONE who has followed my writings in recent years already knows that I have a strongly negative view on Microsoft. I perceive them as an enemy to capitalism because they push it to the radical end and become extremely predatory. This ruins the perception of a healthy democratic and capitalistic society/industry. They strive to establish an economy that is a monopoly or an oligopoly. Capitalism is about competition, not a collective effort that’s not open to alternatives (i.e. closed).

To me, you see, Microsoft Corporation is the equivalent of a military country. It can be quite political too. Over the years Microsoft has used almost every fraudulent practice out of the criminal’s book. The authorities tend to turn a blind eye because it serves them well, locally at least. Each action that can be considered fraudulent was coming from one among different available tactical classes. Collectively, this force was essentially used to attain a dangerous monoply over everything. The extension is/was endless and corruption has reached governments too, even overseas.

There is plenty of evidence to support this. I have just grown a little tired of linking and referencing the sources. More worryingly, on top of all this mess, some people, albeit not the most talented ones, have worked for Microsoft. Knowingly or unknowingly they have become similar to those people who 50 years ago claimed that they were “merely following orders” (make no comparsions though). Ballmer and his gang, sheltered by radical governments with personal interests, continues to pollute the planet and kill the middle class, leading to supression, and destroying humble businesses. What’s to gain? Ego and a sense of total control, to them.

Rebellion is here though and the entity which has become an enemy rather than a Big Brother will soon be overthrown. The change will begin (and has begun) outside the United States. It takes only a few over-the-line reactions and sharing of information (largely thanks to the Internet) to reveal the plot and respond accordingly. That’s what I have been spending a lot of time on recently. I merely pass information around, backed by news stories and facts. The truth will win. Mainstream media is often controlled by companies and it is thus moderated by them. Open information and open sontent, much like open source software, is the worst of enemies to corrupt entities. Transparency helps our world.

[I have decided that this may be my last Novell-related post to this blog. I will soon return to the old format, which is broader]

We recently mentioned an E-mail which suggested that Stuart Cohen’s departure from OSDL was related to Novell. There is a now a more formal statement from InformationWeek.

Cohen angered members of the open source community last month by endorsing Novell’s agreement with Microsoft to work on interoperability between Novell’s Suse Linux and Windows. Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer’s subsequent comments that Linux most likely contains Windows code didn’t help.

Novell is certainly growing up. From being a Windows basher, for example, it has become its friend. Even the Web site was modified to reflect on this sudden change of heart. But what happens when Novell starts teaching Windows? As it stands, Novell now offers training courses that involve Windows and it does this jointly with Microsoft. Times are truly changing. The site states:

Microsoft and Novell are coming together — to help you operate better and achieve your key technical and business goals.

I wonder how this blends, if at all, with the fact that Ron Hovsepian foresees a servitude for Linux (or more specifically—Novell Linux). Novell seems to believe that Linux should be virtualised under Windows and the coupon promise from Microsoft is clearly less than meets the eye.

You might wonder why I have been quiet recently. I wonder the same thing. In any event, here are some pointers to stories which have not been covered, yet.

Matt Asay’s rebuttal to the Microsoft/Novell-funded ‘study’:

My own private Microsoft-Novell survey

And never mind that Microsoft and Novell wrote the survey, and so geared it toward the results they wanted. I’m not implying nefarious intent. I’m just stating a fact: surveys and statistics tend to skew in favor of whomever writes the questions/is interpreting the results. Hence the famous phrase… Lies, damned lies, and statistics.

While one review argues that OpenSUSE 10.2 is ‘most usable Linux ever’, another strongly disagrees.

SUSE 10.2 Review

Well, what can I say about SUSE 10.2? I’m very disappointed in it. It hasn’t changed much… There are better solutions out there for novice users, and there are better solutions for experienced users as well…

Lastly, here is an informative reply from Microsoft.

Microsoft answers IP questions posed in LXer open letter

MS: Through our agreement with Novell, Microsoft is providing access to thousands of patents. As is standard with most companies in this and indeed other industries, we do not publicly list the patents that are applicable to a product or by a component.

I’ll leave personal interpretation out of this.

From the out-in-the-wild department:

Novell Ships OpenSUSE 10.2

Created in Partnership with the Open Source Community, OpenSUSE 10.2 Provides Everything a User Needs to Get Started with Linux

Highlighted (using bold fonts) is a series of words that could raise one’s brow.

Ubuntu Linux is once again victorious:

openSUSE 10.2 GA / Linux Mint 2.0

Looking at 10.2 and asking if it is ready as Enterprise Desktop. Then realizing that is the wrong question for the computer at hand, and installing Linux Mint 2.0.

On the financial front:

Novell Linux push fails to cover NetWare losses

The Waltham, Massachusetts-based software vendor’s fourth quarter revenue was about $6m shy of analysts’ estimates, which was never likely to keep Wall Street happy. Announcing that the company expected revenue to be “flat or near flat” at $945m to $975m in 2007 was the double-whammy that pushed the company’s share price down to $5.70, its lowest price since March 2005.

On the issue of ‘standards’ which Novell helps promote:

A cathedral of formats or a castle of cards?

ECMA has strong ties with Microsoft, and the very philosophy of the ECMA is to acknowledge existing technologies and call them a standard. This view is quite opposed to the one of the OASIS consortium, because the consortium does try to design specifications based on consensus, plausible engineering decisions and not on the fait accompli.

It would be foolish, if not downright naive, to assume that Novell can regain its positive image from the Free software community. As time goes by, Novell ties itself to more actions which lead to backlash. It is clear that there is no going back now. If anything, the resentment may lead to greater distance between the company and the community that used to cherish it. This is better exemplified by this article from InformationWeek.

With the controversy still alive and Novell still in a fight for its life, there’s no reason to expect Hovsepian will get too comfortable in the months ahead.

If you thought that the patent threats — however baseless — are actually behind because Steve Ballmer has not spoken for a while, think again.

The irony of the GPL is that Microsoft is not bound by it, and the only entities that can be harmed by it are those who benefit from it – open source vendors. Enforcing the GPL would mean that Novell, and any other Linux vendor who agrees to Microsoft’s terms, could be forced to stop distributing Linux – which is just what Microsoft wants.

I opine that we are yet to see another wave of attacks. The tighter the squeeze that GNU/Linux applies, the less ethical Microsoft will become in its exploitation of Novell (more latterly OpenXML servitude). This follows a destructive and self-serving path, e.g. ‘interoperability’ bargaining card, neglect of Hula and so forth.