The court battles with SCO ought to teach us that Novell is taking part in an abusive relationship. On the one hand it defends itself against Microsoft-backed anti-Linux FUD while, on the other, it also collaborates and tolerates the abuse. Groklaw has the details on the latest round in the SCO case.

If Novell wins its motion here, obviously that makes it simpler to decide some of the IBM motions. There's a certain complexity to having the two cases going on at once, and now that the judge has indicated that IBM's motions will go forward, it matters to have some of the Novell issues decided.

One can't help but wonder if the Microsoft/Novell relationship plays a role in the offence that's directed at SCO. This relationship has clearly played a role in antitrust proceedings, OpenOffice and formats, patent infringement threats, etc. The big(ger) question remains: will Novell be encouraged to let the SCO nuisance linger on? This seems improbable. However, the whole bizarre scenario does come to show that Novell fights on two fronts with the same enemy. More oddly, it collaborates with its enemies. Is Novell trying to sell Linux? Or is it interested in having it integrated with Windows? Ron Hovsepian has already confessed that he had a vision of Linux running virtualised under Windows. Additionally, does Novell protect Linux from so-called 'intellectual property'? Or does it only expose Linux as a whole (itself included)? Does it fight SCO or does it empower it? It is, after all, collaborating with one of SCO's backers and fuels void speculation that Linux contains tainted bits.