02.15.08
Redmond Kool-Aid in Open Source India Week (OSIW)
A couple of days ago, Novell’s defense of Microsoft’s presence in a Linux/FOSS conference received a quick mention. It is sad to see that others are falling for (or into the) same trap, failing to realise what Microsoft has already revealed it strives to achieve. From the article:
The open source community is literally rocking the world and so is India’s largest Linux and Open Source convention and expo. The community is now being supported by Microsoft, long considered to be the ‘opposing side’. Open Source India Week (OSIW) 2008 kicked off yesterday in Delhi after completing the Bengalure and Mumbai editions. At the occasion, Radhesh Balakrishnan, director, platform strategy, Microsoft, could be seen wooing the open source community, holding an olive branch in the form of promoting interoperability between the two systems.
As we stated and showed in previous posts (in the form of actual evidence from Microsoft), this is a bridge not for symbiosis, but for ’stealing’ FOSS developers away from GNU/Linux and making them OSS (without the “Free”) developers for the Microsoft stack. █
Novell’s GNU/Linux: now with a Windows-esque Start Menu
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.