Microsoft Ubuntu Rumors and Kernel Resignation Opinions

The Linux Journal today addressed the Microsoft-buying-Canonical rumors saying it's against Ubuntu's founding principles. Reactions to the two kernel resignations this week are mixed and we'll take a look. Elsewhere, KDE signs the User Data Manifesto 2.0 and American Trade Journal looks at the business end of Red Hat lately.

Apparently rumors that Microsoft was secretly negotiating to purchase Canonical may have caused some concern in certain circles. Google searches really only turn up one site carrying the news (originally) and the source isn't linked. As Linux Journal's James Darvell wrote today TechAERIS' Alex Hernandez cites vague "rumblings in the Linux community" as his sources. Those rumblings may have been a comment on Reddit referred to in another Reddit thread but searches aren't turning up the original for me. Hernandez updated his original story with denials and "no comments" from key players from both companies the days following his original post. Fueling these rumors are perhaps a few of recent items: Canonical and Microsoft work together on containers, Microsoft lets Ubuntu on Azure, and Microsoft's embedded Linux. In any case, Darvell dissects the whole situation in detail but doesn't really definitively answer the question saying instead it's "unlikely" because Canonical isn't really profitable and selling Canonical is against its founding principles. He even said that "no comment" and denials are what companies would do even if they were in negotiations until they are ready to announced. So the rumors could still be plausible to those who wish it - or dread it.

Two recent kernel resignations have sent folks minds to ponderin' - and posting. Bruce Byfield thinks the resignations of Sharp and Garrett, as well as two others earlier, are symptoms of the good ole boy problem. He thinks when he-man tough-guys get together they start with their bravado and your-mama jokes. Females and young males may not be familiar with that custom ('innate instinct' I think he implied) and retreat instead of firing back. Byfield thinks that's what needs to be eliminated. "To focus on the abuse is to mistake the symptoms for the problem."

Dr. Roy Schestowitz wrote today that the two recent resignations and "kernel fork" are bad for Linux's reputation. He summarized, "Forking of Linux is misleadingly reported in the media because of a couple of very loud people, who are not even quitting their jobs." He noted that the headlines from the blog posts are giving the other side (Microsoft users) ammunition to point out discord in the Linux community and confirm contentions that Open Source development can't succeed. He noted of Garrett:

A longtime vocal supporter of feminism added more fuel to the firehaving done this against Intel before. Intel is the former person’s employer by the way; the company whom he decided to effectively boycott over chauvinism — a problem that the former person seems to not even want to address at all because that’s where her large salary comes from. Double standard much?

Schestowitz concluded, "Some people have too thin a skin, especially where free speech is highly valued." He notes that Garrett is "provocative, confrontational (even against former employers like Canonical), and foul-mouthed (look how he behaves on sites like Twitter)." Their complaints (and resulting headlines) are "just a cycle of provocation, resulting in little more than harmful publicity, e.g. stereotyping and reinforced stigma for Linux."

In other news:

* KDE Signs the User Data Manifesto 2.0

* Large Inflow of Money Witnessed in Red Hat, Inc.

* Ubuntu 15.10: More kitten than beast – but beware the claws