08.27.07
Evidence We Have About the Novell/Microsoft/Dell ‘Conspiracy’ (and Another New Video)
On many occasions we were baffled and concerned about Dell joining the Novell/Microsoft alliance. As this old video shows, the entire event remained very quiet and vague. No Q&As and no public contract were made available for assessment.
Then came the theories which were based on some elements of truth. Michael Dell talked about it too and there were elements of FUD to consider.
LinuxWorld’s attendants have produced another piece of evidence to keep in mind. If you skip the first minute or so, you’ll be able to watch the part where Novell and SUSE get mentioned (a teaser about future offerings in China). This is something which was covered here previously (as soon as the announcement was made, in fact).
Other related items:
- No Dell for Novell
- Dell Not Caught Between Canonical, Red Hat, and Microvell
- Novell and Red Hat Welcome, Yet Downplay, Dell’s Ubuntu Move (Updated)
- Intel-Dell Kickbacks Lead to Thinking About Exclusionary Contracts Affecting Linux
The links above are just a partial compilation of discussions about the Dell/Novell/Microsoft entanglement. One has to wonder if Microsoft’s goal is to make SUSE Linux the most-widely preinstalled Windows alternative. If that was the ever to become reality, Microsoft would cash in no matter what O/S one chooses.
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.