Parables are fun. You will find some nice use of the "carrot and the stick" analogy in the following blog.

Then Microsoft offers the carrot of legal absolution. "Come with us" they say "We will protect you and your customers from our lawsharks" they promise. The poor scared sods believe them and sign a piece of paper that they think will protect themselves from the "Big Brother". This of course makes Microsoft very happy and fits right in with their divide and conqueror plans.

This aligns with the FSF's interpretation. They realise that fear of Microsoft (not the boycotts) will divide the community, which is why it's important to prevent similar deal from being made. Boycotts can hopefully open people's (and company's) eyes to the truth behind these seemingly-friendly deals.

Xandros Linux users do in fact realise the consequences. In a world of choice and low migration barriers (no lockin), some have already taken action. Here is a story of one Xandros customer who was driven away by the company's actions.

I got this comment on my Xandros-Microsoft editorial from a gentleman who left the name Bruce Layne (could be real, who knows?), and it's worth repeating here...

Xandros has a very small userbase (and judging by DistroWatch, it's probably decreasing). It seems unlikely that they have bought themselves any new customers. According to this new small survey, not even enterprises are deterred by Microsoft's ploy, so where is the added value Xandros has to offer?

...none of the half-dozen IT executives who were interviewed about Microsoft's infringement assertions plan to change their open source adoption strategies -- at least, not unless and until there's a good reason for them to do so.

The only business partner Xandros got itself is Microsoft, which will ironically take a slice off Xandros' revenues.