Microsoft/Novell Partnership

[John Van Ostrand]

On Fri, 2006-11-03 at 12:47 -0500, CLIFFORD ILKAY wrote:
> I suspect all the blather yesterday about IP on the part of Microsoft 
> was just to spread more FUD about Linux and to attempt to divide the 
> Linux community by blessing Novell and implying other Linux distros 
> and their users and developers were somehow rogues and didn't respect 
> Microsoft's IP.

I think Novell is trying to convince corporate users. The Microsoft deal
give legitimacy and an extra level of protection. Red Hat is the
corporate choice right now and Novell wants to displace Red Hat.

> So how is it "cross-platform" then if OS X might be a problem?

Support for more than one platform is cross-platform.

> I don't see the comparison to Pascal at all. I see C# as Microsoft's 
> reimplementation of Java. If MS really wanted to play well with 
> others, it could have contributed to Java (not that I really care 
> about Java either) instead of sabotaging it.

MS has to control the platform. Supporting Java would mean that programs
would be cross platform.

> It remains to be seen who has pushed a trojan horse into whose 
> fortress. I'll bet the folks at MS believe they have pushed one into 
> the Linux camp. Given Microsoft's successful track record at gaining 
> the upper hand against "partners" (and Novell's lack of same), it 
> would be foolish to bet against Microsoft.

I foolishly hope that this is a sign from Microsoft that they think
Linux is not going away. They are hedging their bets with a small
"partnership" with an old and well understood competitor. This is one
step in the direction of a more peaceful co-existence.

> You're trying to portray languages that high school students might use 
> to learn programming as somehow unfit for real, he-man programmers. 

Well, the shoe fits Visual Basic.


-- 
John Van Ostrand
         Net Direct Inc.
 
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