07.17.08
Microsoft-backed SCO Owes Money to Microsoft Partner, Novell
SCO has already received its decent share of money from Microsoft and from BayStar (at the very least), through which Microsoft ensured SCO is funded to continue its legal battles against Linux. The decision on Novell/SCO is now in and a preliminary look suggests that Novell, which may be acquired by Microsoft one day, is set to inherit some of SCO’s assets and money.
OK. I’ve read it now once through, and the big picture is this: Judge Kimball did not change anything in his August 10th order, which I was afraid might happen. He could have, had he heard anything that he didn’t know when he made that order. So, SCO breached its fiduciary duty to Novell, converted funds, and so it has to pay. That is ironic, in that this case started with SCO accusing Novell of slander of title, and asking for millions in damages. Instead it has to *pay* Novell millions.
From all of these UNIX/Linux wars, one party among several that benefit is Microsoft. Groklaw opines that Microsoft is the next SCO. █
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.
Victor Soliz said,
July 17, 2008 at 9:10 am
I think saying Novell and MS partners can be a little unfair, if we based ourselves on Novell’s own, continuous statements saying that they owe all their market growth to MS and that MS does not really say the same, I think calling MS: “Novell’s benefactor” makes more sense.
Roy Schestowitz said,
July 17, 2008 at 10:08 am
Novell executives call Microsoft “a partner”. Let’s just wait until it escalates further and Novell labels itself something that’s even more tightly integrated to a company which calls Linux “cancer”.
People at Novell who care about Free software have already left or are leaving gradually. Those hired are happily embracing the idea that .NET is fine and Microsoft is an ally. It changes the fabric of the company, which is, after all, the composition of employees, including decision makers and hand-shakers.