European Wafaa

Mr Asay,

Many thanks for responding to my views on you. What I'm referring to is the recent post that a work colleague of yours made, stating that you had given up Vonage in preference for Skype. I'm not suggesting you create your own PBX, just that you accuse Novell of straying from Open Source both in action and thought and you are doing exactly the same - why convince half your company to switch to Apple Mac and not Linux?. After all Novell's agreement with Microsoft isn't just about Linux it covers their wide range of proprietary software too.

Novell uses a combination of open (Asterisk) and proprietary PBX systems. As we have both said, there are times when proprietary works better for companies. I am not taking shots at you over your phone system that would be a bit too petty (even for me), but at the fact that you seem happy to shoot Novell for doing the same thing that you are doing; choosing what suits you best for the task ahead.

I am not an RMS fanboy or a devout FLOSS user - I use proprietary drivers for my graphics cards, I use proprietary software (VMware Workstation, Gizmo) etc. The crux of my complaint is that you as an industry respected person who is listened to by a lot of people - especially those that do not understand the industry - should have an even hand in dishing out the detention to those that misbehave. The problem is your apparent blinkered view of Novell, they get more than their fair share of punishment from you and are chastised much more by you. I can only hope this is a form of "Tough Love" (although I feel it won;t be).