One thing we already know is that Novell makes Mono a priority in platform migrations, with movements such as Make it With Mono gaining both attention and attraction. We also suppose that this will introduce the issue of Microsoft-imposed royalties, bound to Free software, atop which Mono is mounted. Would this ultimately justify Steve Ballmer's claim that "Open Source [or Free software] is not free". That outrageous claims is something which he said in relation to the main purpose of his company's deal with Novell, surpassing the importance of interoperability.

Could Novell take its 'mixed source' strategy and use it 'contaminate' projects like Opensuse? Could Opensuse cease to be free (as in "free beer")? It certainly seems as though the liberties of free software are being lost due to these dependencies on patented Microsoft technology. It is worth quoting a fragment of a column which we previously cited.

Look at the wishlist which de Icaza mentioned in the interview - he wants a technical deal between Mono and .NET and wants Microsoft to recommend Mono to developers looking at migration. Sure. A company which is trying to push its own operating systems into every possible nook and corner, and facing some resistance from Linux, is definitely going to be inclined to recommend something that will take people away from its own O-S and help them move to one with which it is doing battle. Excellent logic there, Miguel! These crackpot arguments are exactly why I think there is something much more sinister in the Novell-Microsoft deal, something that is intimately connected with Mono. It is high time that the whole story was told.

Always keep your eyes open. Personally, I cannot say that I trust Miguel. I confroned him on a few occasions. His career's track record should be an eye opener:

In summer of 1997, he [Miguel de Icaza] was interviewed by Microsoft for a job in the Internet Explorer Unix team (to work on a SPARC port), but lacked a university degree to obtain a work H-1B visa.

Miguel maintains personal ties with the guys at Microsoft's Open Source Labs (Port 25). He does interviews with them, despite the fact that they are deceptive and their intents are no stranger to malice (for a variety of reasons that would take us off topic). By no means do I make a comparison here, but have a look at Darl McBride, the notorious figures behind a Microsoft-backed legal onslaught on GNU/Linux (which has just turned into a vicious vandetta against Groklaw).

From 1988 to 1996, he [Darl McBride] worked at Novell, where at first he was in charge of Novell Japan and later was vice president and general manager of Novell's Embedded Systems Division (NEST). He left Novell to become senior vice president of IKON Office Solutions. IKON fired him in 1998 after his involvement in the execution of 33 business acquisitions.

Perhaps Novell and Microsoft are twins separated at birth after all. The Baystar-SCO Group link is enough to raise a brow (or even two).

As always, any flames or correction you can offer would be greatly appreciated. We do try to eliminate inaccuracies and back all claims using sources that we consider credible.