Remind yourselves of 'interoperability tax'. It is only part of a bigger picture. One thing that Microsoft is determined to do it to charge Linux users for everything which is said to mimic Windows functionality. The Novell deal revealed this. 'Clones' apparently include Mono, which Novell puts increased focus on. This discussion comes at a time when yet another product -- this time from Mainsoft -- gets released.

Mainsoft for Java EE is the result of the company's four-year collaboration with Mono. Sponsored by Novell, the open source development initiative is developing an open source, multi-platform version of the Microsoft .NET (.NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0) technologies.

Remember that Novell has a special relationship with Microsoft now. Does this permit these programs to run under all Linux distributions? That clearly seems like something Microsoft would frown upon. Novell has essentially taken a route which is separate from what the rest take.

Also in the news yesterday, Microsoft has apparently begun limiting virtualization.

SoftGrid Application Virtualization will be sold only as part of Microsoft's Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance

In yet another response from Microsoft (similar to an interview from last week), the same argument about "building bridges" is repeated. As Groklaw reminds us, this is almost indentical to SCO's arguments. This isn't the first time either. This latest response from Microsoft pretends that the company wants peace. See for yourself:

Reports of Microsoft threatening the Linux community over alleged patent infringements are "sensationalist" and Microsoft is committed to building bridges with the open source community, says Microsoft South Africa's public sector director, Ashley de Klerk.

At the same time, of course, the company wants a 'binary bridge'. How convenient (to them). Remember what SCO intended to achieve in very much the same way.

SCO was projecting that revenues of its SCOsource licenses for Linux would generate billions of dollars in revenues for the company, chief executive Darl McBride testified in a deposition on 27 March 2007.