Novell,MS and Xen

Ben Scott dragonhawk at gmail.com
Mon Nov 13 08:50:36 EST 2006


On 11/13/06, Jeffry Smith <jsmith at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>> (True, harassment/FUD lawsuits cost big money.  But that didn't stop
>> SCO.  They were even able to find investors to pitch in and help...)
>
> And the effect on linux growth has been?

  It did raise concern in the commercial world.  How substantial and
widespread those concerns were, I'm not qualified to comment on.  But
dismissing them out-of-hand isn't right, either.

> I see how well it has stopped Linux growth

  stopped != affected

>> You're assuming any "intellectual property" that Linux might
>> "violate" is from the original Unix source.
>
> For the purpose of MS buying Novell - yes.  Certainly MS can sue over
> patents they may hold now, but they don't need to by Novell to do that
> (what this reply started on).

  Not at all.  My original conspiracy-theory post on this was that
Microsoft is doing this so they can turn Linux into something they can
fight with their traditional tactics.  My theory is Microsoft wants to
divide the commercial Linux world into two camps: Novell and
not-Novell.  Microsoft then sues anyone not in the Novell camp (e.g.
Red Hat) into smithereens.  Once the rest of the market is eliminate,
Microsoft can then attack the one remaining target, Novell (most
likely by rescinding their agreements).  While this nightmare scenario
cannot destroy Linux per se, it would severely impact the commercial
Linux market.

  "I am altering the deal.  Pray I do not alter it any further." --
Darth Ballmer

-- Ben


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