__/ [ Geico Caveman ] on Saturday 04 November 2006 07:44 \__
> Microsoft might be utterly hopeless at creating quality software, but when
> it comes to old fashioned marketing, they are kings of the hill, no
> question.
It's all about marketing and litigious moves. History demonstrates this. It's
not about merit. Never been, never will be. Apple is miles ahead and so is
GNU/Linux.
> Consider this Microsoft - Novell deal and the terms included in it. I do
> not know what Novell got out of it, but for Microsoft it is a masterstroke.
> Here are my thoughts :
>
> 1. Microsoft has found through its train wreck experience with Vista that
> creation of complex operating systems in the closed source model is just
> not doable. This is nothing original - Apple figured this out a few years
> ago, and currently are enjoying a revival on the backs of stupid
> programmers that release their code under the "come exploit me and feel no
> obligation to help me grow" BSD license. Though such a decision has
> probably not been made yet, Microsoft is laying the groundwork for
> positioning itself as a software vendor for the Linux platform. I will not
> be surprised if Vista turns out to be the last version of Windows Microsoft
> ever makes. Microsoft does not earn as much from the OS as it does from
> Office, Visual Studio and other products. Unlike Apple, which lives and
> dies by its OS, Microsoft has the luxury to take a wider view.
>
> 2. Microsoft funded SCO litigation aimed at killing Linux has failed and
> the sorry spectacle of the SCO industrial shakedown in warning potential
> Linux enterprise customers has not worked as all major Linux enterprise
> vendors have made indemnification plans available. Though none of these are
> needed as Linux code is free from the taint of stealing from proprietary
> SCO code, the FUD raised in the minds of non-technical pointy heads has
> thus been stilled. So far.
>
> Microsoft has raised this game by quite a few notches now. In the fine
> print of the deal, Microsoft promises not to sue Novell users for patent
> infringements. I do not know what these patent infringements are (if any),
> but this is a double edged masterstroke - it immediately places a new level
> of FUD in the minds of the users / potential users of non-Novell distros.
> Novell is really irrelevant here, except that it is not Redhat - this deal
> could have been struck with Canonical with the same effect. And what is
> this effect ? Redhat (and now Oracle) are hurting Microsoft big time in
> enterprise as companies deploy infinitely more capable and less costly
> Linux servers instead of migrating to Microsoft's overpriced junk. By
> creating this FUD, Microsoft has simultaneously struck for two aims :
>
> a) Hurt the sales of Redhat / Oracle support contracts and direct sales
> traffic towards Novell with its aim of seamlessly interoperating with
> Windows (read higher Windows dependency in situations where there would
> have been no windows to start with).
>
> b) Cut Novell off from the open source universe by forcing it to
> incrementally choose between the viral GPL license that cannot work with
> closed source licenses / other restrictive licenses. The bad reputation
> would be bad enough for Novell, but the close embrace of the 800 pound
> gorilla is likely to ultimately kill off Novell and SuSe. OpenSuSe will
> survive, but that is not the big worry right now for Microsoft.
>
> 3. Even if option 2 is not exercised immediately, it provides Microsoft
> with some control over the nature of contributions that Novell makes
> towards open source projects. This could well be architectural decisions,
> etc. At the very least, it gives Microsoft a minor proxy seat at the Linux
> table.
>
> 4. Leaving the door open for other distro vendors to strike similar deals
> gives Microsoft the opportunity to play off one distro against the other,
> depending on the direction of pressure in enterprise.
>
> So, how does this concern us Linux users ? For those of us using purely
> free distributions (see - FUD working already) like Debian, there are never
> going to be any worries of a legal kind. This should grievously worry users
> of SuSe Linux Enterprise Desktop, and in the longer term, users of all
> non-community developed distros. Linux as an OS will be unaffected by this
> game (as the wise people who wrote GPL made sure that it would never share
> the richly deserved fate of the BSD morons). Commercial support of Linux
> could easily be squeezed out of the market by such tactics, with just
> Redhat / Oracle / IBM surviving the coming Microsoft attack. This is pure
> genius.
>
> As to Apple in enterprise ? This just kills it off. Apple is already a bit
> player in enterprise space, and this deal between Microsoft and Novell
> could well prove irresistible to most people even considering Apple as an
> enterprise solution.
>
> So, should Linux users welcome this ? If 1 above is true, yes we should.
> Otherwise, we should be wary of what is going on. One way to ensure this
> tactic is reduced in its effects is to immediately shun any vendor that
> strikes a deal with Microsoft. Let Microsoft become another vendor in Linux
> space if it wants to, but until its intentions are clear, we should give
> them a wide berth.
>
> This is not your usual "embrace, extend and extinguish" tactic. Its more
> like, "enter, confound and divide".
Maybe it's time to stop that distro-agnostic attitude. Microvell and ReiserFS
might not belong here... given Ballmer's statement ("gloves come off"), I'm
unlikely to flip-flop on that. *frown*
What Novell fell into was a probably trap, so it's not a case of 'treason'.
It's just sheer ignorance. There will be benefits, but there will also be
perils. I can foresee Groklaw transforming into a site whose focus is Novell
and Microsoft, largely at the expense of IBM and SCO. The latter seems like
peanuts at the moment.
With companies like Microsoft it'll never be down to the technical rivalry.
It will be down to the lawyers, the brainwash and that under-the-desk drama.
Everything the company has touched is filled with corruption (bribery,
hobbyists, shills, fake lawsuits, tricky settlements, scare tactic,
extortion and blackmail).
Linux has won on the purely technical aspects. It will remain far ahead and
will continue to extend the gaps. Now it's just about truth, ethics and law
(including government policies). That crocodile that sheds a tear will
always play dirty, especially when it faces extinction and the shareholders
beg for flesh.
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