Microsoft Gives Linux a Boost Through Partnership With Novell

**trickster** · 11-02-2006, 10:15 PM

http://online.wsj.com/public/article...html?mod=blogs

**Compunuts** · 11-03-2006, 04:30 PM

Interesting ..... Anyway, it validates that Linux is showing its maturity even so M$ only deal with SuSE.

**Outlaw** · 11-03-2006, 04:41 PM

And watch Redhat stock plunge further

**Lovechild** · 11-03-2006, 05:02 PM

In addition to now being in complete violation of section 7 of the GPL and having angered the entire Linux developer elite... what have Novell ever done for me.. oh yes tried to push an inferior security model (AppArmor) on the world and this move which will do absolutely nothing for value.

brilliant move Novell.. thank you..

**Kernel_Killer** · 11-04-2006, 05:44 PM

brilliant move Novell.. thank you..

Could we expect any less from them?

**GhostDawg** · 11-05-2006, 04:42 AM

Is it a boost or boot?

**coltrane** · 11-05-2006, 12:52 PM

me thinks boot...Lovey is right about the implications of a Section 7 violation, and nothing ever comes of these Microsoft partnerships (see Sun)...while i havent replaced all of my systems with Fedora 6 or Edgy Eft (yet), Im still scratching my head on this one.

im much more concerned with the future of several mono applications that ive grown to love, which also appear to represent a more "mature"/professional set of Linux applications.

**Lovechild** · 11-05-2006, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by coltrane

me thinks boot...Lovey is right about the implications of a Section 7 violation, and nothing ever comes of these Microsoft partnerships (see Sun)...while i havent replaced all of my systems with Fedora 6 or Edgy Eft (yet), Im still scratching my head on this one.

im much more concerned with the future of several mono applications that ive grown to love, which also appear to represent a more "mature"/professional set of Linux applications.

Novell are no longer able to forfill their commitment to the Open Innovators Network which is the protection that has granted other distributions to ship Mono. No legal protection means that distributions are now considering the option of removing Mono. I personally removed all my Mono applications and ceased development on my pet C# projects since I might as well learn to live without Mono now that Novell killed it for anyone but themselves.

Novell killed a good thing and their timing is perfect since Mono just got accepted as a dependency for GNOME along with Tomboy.

**peter** · 11-05-2006, 04:16 PM

The real temptation for both these companies is the theft of each other's customer base, but unless sales representatives get a meaningful commission on each other's products, the partnership will fail.

If the incentives for the sales organizations work, there is the threat of Microsoft's historic tactic of "Embrace, extend and extinguish" that should leave corporate customers wary of the potential of SUSE having so many proprietary links to MS that they paradoxically become chained to an open source solution. This would eliminate the flexibility open source provided them in the first place.

Microsoft shouldn't be underestimated, they have successfully developed close links to rival operating systems in the past, and managed to engulf their customer base when weaknesses in their rival were discovered. Microsoft's efforts with OS/2 are a case in point. It was developed jointly with IBM, but development slowed, and then stopped, when Windows became more popular due to it having a broader set of drivers, support for 32 bit architectures where OS/2 was stuck in 16 bit and Windows had the ability of simultaneously running more than one DOS window.

Novell should be wary of Redmond, they have been their victim before. Novell got burned with Netware, which offered server based file sharing with a separate fat client on the PC. Windows offered built in clients for their LAN Manager product and in workgroup mode, a dedicated file server was unnecessary. The LAN Manager GUI was also superior to the Novell text based equivalent.

If the deal is a success, there is the other question of Novell's own response to it. Would it tolerate a significant portion of its sales being closely tied to the whims and fortunes of Microsoft a rival that has maimed it in the past?

I'd say the smart IT manager would bet on the deal being a faltering failure, or a publicity non-event. Until there is certainty on the outcome, SUSE adoption will suffer.