Elizabeth Montalbano, of IDG, refers to people who prefer Open Source as "diehards", a name which implies that Open Source is dying. Such is her bias.
However, De Icaza is being disengenious. Consider this remark of his just 15 months ago:
http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2006/Nov-04.html
"Why did you guys work this deal with Microsoft?
Although I did not take part of the actual negotiations, and was only told about this deal less than a week before the announcement, I had been calling for a long time for a collaboration between Microsoft and Open Source and Microsoft and Novell.
There are numerous interviews that touch on this topic and most recently my interview in Microsoft's Port25
In the past I had called for this same kind of cooperation with other companies. "
So much for the claim that he didn't like the "deal".
And he made this comment,
http://groups.google.com/group/tiraniaorg-blog-com ments/browse_thread/thread/2a07b8b50038d8c8/d58216 2af2d63d57
claiming OOXML's spec is in "better shape than any other spec in that space". ??? ODF??? Apparently so. He goes on:
"OOXML is a superb standard and yet, it has been FUDed so badly by its competitors that serious people believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with it. "
About the same time De Icaza was extrolling OOXML's virtues an article appeared describing the SIGNIFICANT differences between the two:
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2007/06/14/achi eving-openness-a-closer-look-at-odf-and-ooxml.html
As evidenced by its implementation in multiple products that are offered through multiple vendors, ODF achieves open availability. However, the OOXML specification's complexity, its length, omissions, and single-vendor dependencies prohibit efficient, cost-effective, or fully working implementations
Jeremy Allison, also working at Novell, showed his displeasure with the "deal" by resigning:
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200612210 81000710
Icaza has put GNOME hip deep in MONO(.NET) code, with over 180 GNOME components and other applications TOTALLY depending on MONO. When MS breaks the MONO-.NET link, and they surely will sooner or later, GNOME will be gutted.
So, the question arises: Why is De Icaza criticizing the "deal" now? What's changed? The terms of Icaza's employment? His salary? His VP status? His duties? GNOME's GPL status?
It's time De Icaza comes clean.
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GreyGeek
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