03.20.07
Hovsepian Denies Microsoft Takeover
Really, there isn’t much meat to this entry, but I wanted to post this and make sure that we can link back to it later…
I have more than once wondered aloud Why didn’t Microsoft just buy Novell?, and many feel that the eventual acquisition of Novell by Microsoft is indeed possible, including Bruce Perens. Well, Ron Hovsepian scoffed at the suggestion:
Perens, the critic, said he would not oppose this union if it were simply a technological partnership. But in his view, Microsoft is using it to destroy competition, compelling Novell to abandon its former allies - small- and intermediate-level software developers in the open-source community - in return for protection from Microsoft attacks.
What Novell did is not illegal but it is a matter of bad faith, Perens contended. The result could doom Novell to becoming a Microsoft subsidiary, he said, because Novell does not write its own software but gets it instead from those small independents.
Hovsepian scoffed at that scenario. “Them [Microsoft] buying us? I think that’s deep in the conspiracy theory bucket.”
Time will tell, time will tell…
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.