03.13.07
Microsoft Advertises Linux Deal, Mentions “Intellectual Property”
In what appears to have become a pattern, Microsoft boasts deployments of SUSE Linux and does not neglect to add subtle, self-serving phrases.
Global bank selects SUSE Linux Enterprise as its standard Linux distribution, citing interoperability with Windows Active Directory and integrated Windows and Linux platform support.
You will find a few unnerving sentences if you carry on reading. Novell, did you not insist that “intellectual property” for Linux was irrelevant? Why was this press release issued by Microsoft? In other news:
Jointly tested by Novell and SAP, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with Xen met or exceeded SAP’s stringent performance requirements for SAP applications in a virtualized environment.
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.
shane said,
March 14, 2007 at 9:56 am
Was this the first shot to actually hit and hurt Red Hat?
In the announcement, which once again says MS will deliver the stay out of court coupons to HSBC (they are handing them out for free), but it makes a point to say how HSBC will ‘reduce complexity’ and standardize their Linux infrastructure on SLES. That reads to me that they are removing/migrating off of someone’s distro.