Posted on 11/13/2006 1:51:43 PM PST by 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.
LOL
Indeed the ndiswwrapper wiki rocks.
"Microsoft has done for people what Ford did in making a product that gets quickly into useful hands of the public. "
Um, have you looked at where Ford stock is selling lately? And their market share?
I have no problem giving Henry and Bill their place in the history books. But I see no advantage to Vista and have been slowly moving my operations to Fedora. Will now avoid Suse, may try UBuntu. But I'm no longer hooked on Fords or Microsoft, they can both rot on the vine and I don't care..
1) Why do you have to be so abrasive?
and
2) Why do you only post on Linux/MS flame war threads? Isn't there anything more important happening in the world (elections, wars, etc) that can pull you away from the defense of Microsoft? :p
Oh no....
Thankfully he's run away from this thread after being throughly exposed again.
You've got a guy on here that can't get his wifi card working with Linux tonight, not anyone claiming they have a virus problem with Windows. You have another guy on this thread that already gave up on Linux because he couldn't get the video drivers to work, and still no sight of anyone with a virus on Windows. You trying to claim Linux = OSX is obvious bunk, too. My statement stands.
"Linux is only free to those whose time is worth nothing."
Um, I use Linux and netted $400,000 last year. I guess you are wrong again GE.
This, more than anything else is the primary characteristic of a troll. Can you honestly imagine, given all that has happened in the world in just the past few months, that you couldn't find something else to talk about on this forum?
LMAO!!!
Well it beats the way the kids that just got out of romper room are acting, don't you think?
Why do you only post on Linux/MS flame war threads? Isn't there anything more important happening in the world (elections, wars, etc) that can pull you away from the defense of Microsoft?
Actually I'm defending Apple right now from the Linux guy claiming Linux is equal to it, which everyone should know is ridiculous. And yes, I posted quite a bit about the election the other day, but there's less BS that needs correcting on those threads.
Linux is only free to those whose time is worth nothing.
I pointed out that it is the MS-Windows users who have to waste their time, money, and effort just to keep a (somewhat) usable system.
Go troll somewhere else.
The Novel SUSE linux SLED 10 box was still serenely folding away without pause, complaint, or hiccup like it did the first day I spun it up about four months ago and as it has every day since.
And your son works for Suse/Novell, correct? Sorry but that's hardly an unbiased opinion.
"I find it to be absolutely astounding that some people still have the gall to make that kind of a claim after we see thread after thread of people whose MS-Windows is completely borked because they've been infected with some spyware/trojan/worm dejure."
I've been using Windows since version 2 and I have never had a virus, trojan or worm. Anyone stupid enough to get them is way too dumb to run Linux.
Any clues how to get my Fedora machine to talk to the printer on my XP machine on a giant university network with Linux, Unix and Windows servers? I have about 120 hours into it so far with no luck. Even the university IT staff can't figure it out. The Linux box can't see the printer even though all of the Windows machines have no trouble sharing.
Hell, I even print over the VPN and the cable at home.
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