On several occasions we argued or cited Web sites, people, and analyses which named Novell "the next SCO". While the effect of the Novell/Microsoft relationship resembles what could develop into SCO 2.0, it is becoming clear that Microsoft, not Novell, will take the lead. Novell might just be the alibi, the precedence, maybe even the backer. To spearhead the attack on Free software, one must have the necessary resources and the interest, which is tightly related to grip on a proprietary ecosystem.

So, equipped with a comparatively limited patent portfolio (recall OIN), a quickly-stagnating-but-still-profitable business, and Novell's energy to spare (think Trojan horse for OOXML, Mono, Silverlight, Samba, etc.), Microsoft is heading for the legal battle. Is it the next SCO? Some people certainly believe this and they respond accordingly. Here are a couple of reactions.

The first comes from Dana.

But time is not on Microsoft's side, and the cost of its intransigence keeps rising. Its ballyhooed Silverlight technology is going to bomb like Bob because many developers will simply refuse to deal with a Microsoft product, due to its stance on patents and Linux. Microsoft is fast becoming the new SCO.

Here is an interesting reaction from one who has been loyal to Microsoft's way, until now.

You know all those nice things I said about the Microsoft Development environment a couple of weeks ago? Well, I still stand by them as a realistic opinion of the quality of the platform for developers. However, today's news brings the major reason you should run away from depending on Microsoft technology like it had a case of Ebola...

[...]

At the end, there’s only one thing left to say. For shame Microsoft, for shame. You’ve twisted competition into a thuggish debacle that ranks right up there with the worst of the great robber barons. How ironic that Bill Gates is trying to reinvent himself as the great philanthropist. Andrew Carnegie took much the same route late in his life, as if it could wash away his sins. We can only hope that in a few years, Steve Ballmer will look as much a fool as Daryl McBride does today.

Some go as far as calling Microsoft "anti-capitalist", for it is unable to accept competition that is based on a better and/or cheaper product. It alters the rules of the game. It no longer finds itself in a free market. Novell chose to be absorbed by a market and fair competition abuser rather than confront it. For this, Novell might only come to witness its own slow demise. Whether it behaves in an SCO-like fashion or not, its final destination could be the same, just by sitting obediently at the sidelines.