02.08.08
Press Calls Novell + Microsoft an “Alliance” — Again
“We should dedicate a cross-group team to come up with ways to leverage Windows technically more.”
–Jim Allchin, Microsoft
As time goes by, Novell and Microsoft appear to be getting closer. Several months ago we saw the press describing the Microsoft-Novell deal as an alliance and more recently we even saw Novell helping Windows Vista. Considering the fact that Novell is gradually embracing more of .NET [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13], this is hardly surprising.
For the record, here is another sighting in the press where the relationship between this couple is described as “an alliance”. Maybe, just maybe, some day in the future we will hear about a “subsidiary” or so-called ‘GPL division’.
In the case of Novell-Microsoft alliance, the situation is one of making two platforms work together.
Alliance, eh?
Somebody ought to tell Microsoft to work with Novell on ODF support in Microsoft Office, rather than have Novell become the slave of OOXML as its contract requires. █
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.