06.11.08
Neelie Kroes Dismisses Novell-type Intraoperability with Microsoft
“Where interoperability information is protected as a trade secret, there may be a lot of truth in the saying that the information is valuable because it is secret, rather than being secret because it is valuable… we should only standardize when there are demonstrable benefits, and we should not rush to standardize on a particular technology too early… I fail to see the interest of customers in including proprietary technology in standards when there are no clear and demonstrable benefits over non-proprietary alternatives.”
–Neelie Kroes
It has been no secret that Novell became an ally in Microsoft’s fight against open protocols and open formats. For selfish reasons, Novell chose to become a sidekick in Microsoft’s monopoly and rely on nothing more than Microsoft’s promises. Interoperability is just a hoax and a weasel word. It’s about bringing revenue to Microsoft.
Lots of very interesting points were raised throughout Neelie Kroes’ latest speech, including some of the accompanying remarks from Groklaw. Mind the following important correction:
Why is she lauding software patents when Europe doesn’t for the most part recognize them? And in software, there is no “emerge from markets” because Microsoft owns the market, and not necessarily because it’s the best choice or even *a* choice. Just try to buy a computer without Windows.
At the end of the day, it’s the bits quoted at the top that are probably most telling. Segregation with trade secrets, Novell/Microsoft-style, is not the way to go. █
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.