I’ve only met Zonker face-to-face once. It was back in 2001, when I was at the New York LinuxWorld Expo on behalf of Progeny Linux Systems. Progeny was sharing a booth with Maximum Linux magazine, and Zonker came around to ask if the company had any openings for technical writers (it didn’t). But in the following years, I came to recognize him as one of the half dozen or so best professional writers in the business. Then, for large chunks of 2006 and 2007, I interacted with him daily on Linux.com’s private IRC channel, where he went under the nickname of jzb. So, as happens on the Internet, I likely have the impression that I know him better than I actually do.
I suspect that jzb may not completely appreciate what I have to say here, but I hope that openSUSE appreciates what they’re getting. They’re getting a worker so dedicated that he makes me feel like a slacker – and I might as well be chained to my computer desk. I used to joke that Linux.com would fall apart if he ever got a life, and, although that’s not true – as we learned when he left last September to become editor-in-chief at Linux Magazine – it’s true that the channel has been quieter and not as much fun since.
So what else can openSUSE expect? They can expect a sarcastic wit that is acute without being nasty, and a thorough knowledge of science fiction and alternative music. They can also expect a sympathetic ear in private. Perhaps, too, they should expect some surprises, such as Linux.com’s last year when we discovered that he had been half of a long distance, intra-office romance for months without any of us suspecting.
But, most of all, they can expect someone who lives and breathes free software, and is more current about what’s happening in the community than anyone I’ve encountered (he used to regularly claim story assignments before I could, and, while he was aided by being two hours ahead of me, that wasn’t the only reason he consistently scooped me. I swear the bastard never sleeps).
I have no ambitions to be editor-in-chief or a community manager, and I would have personal reservations about working at Novell after its pact with Microsoft, so I can say without envy that I wish him nothing except success. I know that he has definite ideas about how to do things, and I suspect that, before he finishes, openSUSE will be a more organized and better known part of the community. And, for his part, I hope that being community manager is the position he’s been looking for.
The only thing I worry about is whether this is another setup by jzb, like those I’ve been the butt of in the past. You see, my comments about conspiracy theories have already caused some of the foaming mouth brigade to denounce me as secretly pro-Microsoft. By joining Novell, is Zonker arranging things so that Linux.com and Linux Magazine will be added to the Axis of Evil? After all, between the two of us, we must constitute a positive trend according what passes for logic in those circles. And is jzb sitting down in Florida, laughing about it?
You know, I wouldn’t put it past him – even if NOAFD (Not on a First Date), to use an acronym that he helped to coin and made into a punchline on IRC.
Off the Wall 
We (openSUSE community) are happy to welcome Joe to support us in continuing to build a strong community around that fine distro of ours and especially those committed individuals that form it.
But you’re confusing the openSUSE community with one aspect of Novell management’s business strategy, and tagging the openSUSE community as the “axis of evil” is insulting at best.
I certainly don’t want to roll out the whole discussion again (FFS), but you cannot simplify something as complex as a business that has to make money for shareholders and for its payroll, has a strategy of investing heavily into opensource at large (just look at the many, many FOSS projects and events Novell is contributing to) as well as making a living from that, spending a lot of resources (especially human) into a major distribution and community project such as openSUSE.org… and then talk about the “axis of evil”. That’s the sort of ludicrous oversimplification worthy of a George Bush, so let’s please not fall into that lowest of low levels.
Apart from that, your blog is a nice read as always 😉
Hi, Pascal:
No insult intended, and no confusion, either. As you say, the issue is complicated, and I didn’t want to go into details on a side issue that would have been likely to overwhelm the main point of what I was writing.
However, while I agree that is unfair to blame openSUSE for Novell’s business actions, the association lingers in many people’s minds — and, unless I misunderstand, the community manager is a Novell employee, so it’s not completely inappropriate.
Moreover, if I’m being honest (which I try to be in my blog entry), it would occur to me if I were to receive an offer like Joe’s (which won’t happen, because I’m a Canadian, and American public companies have trouble employing foreign nationals full-time). I don’t know that it would necessarily influence my decision, but I would think about it.
That’s not to say, of course, that it would interfer with covering openSUSE. So if you have any news about the project, by all means mention it to me, or send an email to editors@linux.com — we’re always looking for stories.
Indeed, the association is in many people’s minds but to be honest, the vast amounts of Novell bashing we’ve seen the past months is something you’d rather see from
– recent converts who are avid self-declared GPL defenders (and have been using Windows for several years 3 months ago),
– some tech writers who are always looking for a nice header (and spreading hate is always the shortest path) or
– people with a strong agenda.
From my experience with other active, long-time contributors like myself in and around other Linux distributions and communities, it doesn’t matter all that much. Sure, people may disagree and not like the deal, everyone has a right to do so, but they certainly aren’t confusing that one aspect of Novell’s business strategy and the like-minded people working in the community and on the distribution itself. Concerning the latter, we’re all in the same boat, working on the same tools, having the same issues, etc…
Actually several active contributors in the openSUSE community (including me) think that while we do have an excellent distribution with a high standard of quality (well, it’s our opinion ;)), we certainly lack a lot in terms of marketing (in a positive sense, not “sales marketing” ;)). openSUSE is heavily underrated as a distribution.
Also, Novell is contributing a lot of resources (financial and especially human) to lots of FOSS projects, which is beneficial to everyone involved (even other distributions such as Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, …). Of course, the opposite is true as well — as an example, Fedora is pioneering in a lot of areas, and their experiences also help us from a technical point of view.
But few people know that (about Novell), and that’s a shame. Communication and spreading the word are definitely areas where we’re lacking, and we have high hopes that Joe can support us a lot there, given his experience in that domain. Of course, Joe will support us in many other areas as well 🙂
Also note that Joe stated that his intention isn’t to steal users and contributors from other Linux distributions — I mean, if you’re happy with the distribution you’re using, why switch, that’s perfectly fine and every FOSS community deserves the same amount of respect and constructive criticism — which is something I couldn’t agree more with. The Linux “market” is large enough for all of us.
Note that I’m not working for Novell — I’m an openSUSE board member and from the community, not on Novell’s payroll. And I don’t agree with all of Novell’s business strategies either, nor do I like the deal with MS that much (but as I have quite some experience in the IT business, including and especially the non-FOSS market, I do understand their motivations). But the openSUSE community, like many other FOSS communities, is made up of committed people who are spending their time, knowledge and passion into making something good, for themselves and for the other users. It’s about the people and technology (in that order), not so much about business strategies.
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