02.11.08
Survey Indicates Microsoft/Novell Deal Did Damage to SUSE
For the second consecutive time, a comprehensive survey from Alfresco shows that the deal Novell signed with Microsoft harmed SUSE rather than helped it.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux started out as equals in Alfresco’s user base. No more. Ubuntu has clearly won over our customer base at SUSE’s expense. My money is on Novell’s deal with Microsoft as the culprit. Indeed, you can watch the deployments taper off in the data from the month that deal was announced.
The management at Novell will hopefully take a look at these figures. Maybe those responsible should start looking for another job after that shameful deal. We’ll touch on this in the next post. █
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.