12.08.06
First CEO to Lose Their Job Over Microvell?
It may not be who you think.
Apparently, Bruce Perens believes that the recent departure of Stuart Cohen in the OSDL restructuring may have been in part due to his support of the Microsoft-Novell deal.
From Novell’s November 2 Press Release:
"Today’s announcement by Microsoft and Novell marks a significant milestone in the adoption of Linux," said Stuart Cohen, CEO of Open Source Development Labs. "By choosing a course of co-opetition, Microsoft acknowledges the critical role that open source plays today in an enterprise IT infrastructure. We appreciate the role Novell is playing to help bridge the gap between Microsoft and the open source community. We are glad to see these two companies collaborating to further diminish the legal threat posed to developers and customers by patent assertions. This is good for customer confidence in Linux, the open source community and the broader IT ecosystem."
According to the entry, Bruce Perens feels that it is possible that OSDL members were unhappy with Cohen buying into Microsoft’s FUD campaign, which is to the detriment of many of OSDL’s members (which include Red Hat).
Bruce Perens says Stuart got the axe in part because he gave his blessing to the Microsoft-Novell deal, and some OSDL members didn’t like that. "It’s buying into a Microsoft FUD campaign that damages the business of many members," Bruce writes via email.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.