Speculation: Microsoft will probably start selling/distributing linux soon

royans.net ^ | Nov 13, 2006 | royans.net

[bigdcaldavis]

Anyone can tell you an interesting story, but when it comes to Microsoft and Novell’s recent deal Linux enthusiasts around the world have more than a couple up their sleeves.

Microsoft has a long history at killing competition. They started with Novell’s Server market, they tried to do with Java, and today they are trying to do it against the Anti-Virus vendors. They succeeded against Netscape, gained significant grounds against Sony’s Playstation, and killed a thousand other products that I can’t name because I forgot about them after Microsoft obliterated them out of the market. If any of you are XBox lovers, I don’t have to tell you that in the war over consoles Microsoft has been losing money on every XBox it sells. Zune (the competition to iPod) is said to have a similar strategy. In short Microsoft has a huge bank balance and can pump in a lot of money until the competition goes bankrupt.

As a result of this announcement its not a surprise that the Linux world is almost up in arms against Novell for giving in for a few pieces of silver. I on the other hand have a different prespective on it.

* Microsoft isn’t interested in suing anyone (anytime soon atleast) because of its Vista launch schedule and the tricky negotiations going on in Europe * SCO has already tried the same FUD which Microsoft is accused of trying. In fact if you remember Microsoft had “licensed” SCO unix in a similar deal which was indirectly used to fund SCO’s battle against IBM/Linux * Most of the other visible products Microsoft has went after till now have been markets where Microsoft didn’t really have a foothold. Linux is one of the very few unique products which started up as a competitor to Microsoft has has gradually increased in popularity over the years. [Firefox/Mozilla is the other one which I admire] * The other interesting point to note is that unlike most other commercial vendors who got nailed by Microsoft’s pump and dump strategy, Linux is not a commercial entity which can go bankrupt. They can kill Novell, but it will be very hard for them to kill the whole linux movement.

My personal analysis is that Microsoft is afraid.

* Its so afraid of loosing this battle that in its moment of desperation its ready to do anything short of launching a Microsoft branded Linux distribution. * The Financial deal Microsoft and Novell signed has a few hints of where this might be heading. * To begin with its clear both of them want to integrate each others OS using each others technology to provide a better virtualization experience. * Its also clear that though Novell might use significant portions of proprietary Microsoft technology (for example for authentication, authorization and accounting) Microsoft will mostly be using GNU code to which Novell doesn’t have any rights anyway. * So why is Microsoft paying Novell ? * And what’s the deal with 240 million dollars for linux license subscription cost ? What is it going to do with that many copies of linux distribution ? * Oh wait, they could embed it into your Microsoft operating system ? Have you ever thought which distribution of Linux you would use if your Microsoft OS copy you already have, has a Linux distribution pre-bundled with it? * Novell also mentions that it will pay Microsoft a minimum amount of licensing fees, which can increase depending on its own sales. So may be it will sell Windows as well… who knows. But it will sell something with at least some part of Microsoft code in it. * Finally based on my personal opinion (with no understanding of financial details) it almost looks like Microsoft has kind of bought a share of Novell’s company and wants a piece of the action every year. * May be Microsoft is going to announce something even much more significant which will dramatically increase Novell’s sales. May be Novell is an investment after all… not just a pump-and-dump target.

My thought process finally took me to the one place I didn’t want to go… Its the thought that Microsoft will soon bundle Suse linux with one of its own products.

Coming back to the discussion on whether we should abandon Suse or not, I personally think it doesn’t matter as long as Microsoft is not trying to kill it. Stop acting like a 5 year old kid who doesn’t like the big guys. If anything, you should be excited about more commercial support behind your favourite OS. And if they really do bundle Suse with every Desktop/Server OS thats exactly what I wanted when I joined the revolution. Linux on every desktop… I have said this before, and I’ll continue to say it that I’m not opposed to Microsoft Linux as long as others can innovate and keep Microsoft on its toes.

[MikefromOhio]

LOL

[MikefromOhio]

How dare you insinuate that Iggle is light in the lofers before I got a chance too LOL

[rzeznikj at stout]

Oh, I got a lot more cooked up, but first I have to head home--still on campus...

[MikefromOhio]

well you do that :)

[Golden Eagle]

still on campus

Too bad you and Mike aren't studying for your degrees tonight. Maybe one day you'll grow up, and realize your time could have been better spent on something constructive instead of endlessly proving your immaturity.

[zeugma]

And yes, I posted quite a bit about the election the other day,

Wow, after years of trolling FreeRepublic, and dumping his garbage into the forum on just about any computer-related thread he can find, GE has finally discovered that there are threads on this forum, that actually have things to do with politics and other news of the day.

Perhaps my post the other day, exposing his trollish posting history finally spurred him on to searching for something else topical on FR. I can only hope I played a small part in this. Still, I encourage folks to even look back at his recent posting history and you can see the obvious pattern to this troll.

Hey GE, watch out for them darned copyleftists!!!!!

 For those who might be wondering what GE looks like as he posts on FR, our secret spycam captured this video of him recently...

[MikefromOhio]

[Mannaggia l'America]

That $1100.00 notebook they're sellin' now looks like a good deal.

It's an OK deal if you want to run Apple's operating system (which only runs on Apple hardware).

But if you do price/feature comparisons with other hardware, it's not all that great. I know because my wife's laptop broke and I was considering getting an Apple to fool around with. It just didn't make sense from strictly a hardware point of view.

The $1100 Apple you refer to (actuall $1150 has a 2Ghz Core Duo with 512MB RAM and 60GB drive and 13.3" screen.

I configured a Dell laptop (which I ended up buying) with a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 80GB drive, and 14.1" screen. This cost me $923. So for $225 less I got a Core 2 Duo (over the Core Duo), additional RAM, drive space, and screen size.

The Apple laptops are more price competitive with Windows laptops than they have been in the past, and are a decent price if you know you want to run Apple's OS. They almost swayed me to give it a shot. But if you could go either way with the OS, the Windows hardware is still a better value.

[Golden Eagle]

Hey GE, watch out for them darned copyleftists!!!!!

Nothing to fear, you've perfectly cornered yourself with your own BS.

[MikefromOhio]

Too bad you and Mike aren't studying for your degrees tonight. Maybe one day you'll grow up, and realize your time could have been better spent on something constructive instead of endlessly proving your immaturity.

LMAO!!!

Actually I'm working on a CISCO certification at the moment if you really must know. Once I'm done with that, I will rebuild my SAMBA server with my NEW copy of Fedora Core 6 and I'll teach my wife how Linux works so that we can dump Micro$$$$$oft once and for all.

Hopefully the Air Force won't be too far behind. It certainly doesn't look like they will be. LMAO

[MikefromOhio]

[Sam Ketcham]

The demise of the Windows Operating System has been obvious for awhile. Third world countries such as India are not inclined to pay for a product when they can get it for free. MSFT has been enforcing its patent rights so vigorously that third world countries no longer want to use pirated MSFT O/Ss.

The real killer?... India alone has over 300,000 LINUX programmers! Why pay for MSFT when you have millions of LINUX programmers World Wide willing to write the needed drivers, software and other programs?

Basically, MSFT just woke up.

[zeugma]

Does the box have any difficulties printing to other network printers? (i.e., to printers with their own IP address)

I've had a lot of luck connecting to printers using CUPS. If it is slaved to an XP box, you might want to make sure there is nothing blocking the packets going out of it. You mention that other MS-Windows boxes have no trouble sharing, but do they have issues connecting to that specific printer?

One really cool Linux utility that you may, or may not have running is Webmin. If you're  having trouble connecting to a printer connected to a windows box, you might not be terribly familiar with Samba (no offense intended, I'm no Samba guru either). The Webmin interface helps you to connect to samba shares.

[zeugma]

GE, you might feel more comfortable here if you just admit that my tagline is your mantra.

[Golden Eagle]

I'm working on a CISCO certification at the moment

So you dropped your actual degree plans huh. Not surprised seeing how much time you dedicate to Jim Rome LMAO. Well sounds like a career stuck in the trenches, and pulling cable doesn't look like much fun. Maybe Jim will still read your emails on the air though LOL.

[zeugma]

If you're planning on installing FC6, be sure to check out the Celestia program. It is the Coolest Program Ever.

[MikefromOhio]

I will keep that in mind :)

Thanks for the tip.

[MikefromOhio]

So you dropped your actual degree plans huh.

No you friggin retard, I'm doing CISCO in addition TO my college coursework. English 112, Chemistry and Western Civ. I never said I "dropped" my degree plans. LOL

Not surprised seeing how much time you dedicate to Jim Rome LMAO.

Why does this keep coming up? Is that all you have to ding me on? LOL

Well sounds like a career stuck in the trenches, and pulling cable doesn't look like much fun.

Funny how I don't currently pull cable, nor will I. INstead I work on fixing your broke ass network.

Maybe Jim will still read your emails on the air though LOL.

I'd have to email him first. Instead I'll leave that to obsessive losers like yourself.

[zeugma]

If you're into astronomy at all, (or have small kids who are), you may well regret the hours of your life that will get sucked into it.

[MikefromOhio]

No kids yet :)

If it's time consuming I may not find time to get really into it, but maybe I'll give it a look when my schedules lighten up a bit here in a couple weeks....