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Is Novell Building Microsoft Linux۩? (Signs That Your Mono Ain't So Safe)

The closer we look into Novell's affairs with Mono, the more worried we become. Yesterday I received an E-mail which pointed out some important and detailed information.

I read the agreement between Xandros and Microsoft, and one of the excluded products was Mono, so Microsoft promises to not sue Xandros over their distribution but excluding Mono and a few other products, i.e. they reserve the right to sue over Mono. I wonder if this is an interesting preview of on what basis they want to fight the free world.

Interestingly, the Novell deal seems to be different, Mono is not excluded from the Novell deal. So Microsoft seems to be promising not to sue Novell over Mono, but keeps the option open for Xandros. Weird but true.


Let us assume that Microsoft wants to make Novell's SUSE a distribution that contains some unique features and enjoys special exemptions.

Also yesterday, in a different forum, I half-jokingly posted the following remark:

"Maybe they'll [Microsoft] just acquire Novell, own UNIX, put .NET all over SUSE Linux and threaten everyone else. Maybe. They also shove .NET into GNOME and SUSE."

Even though this wild speculation was intended only to have a dramatic effect, a reply that I received was rather alerting.

SUSE may rapidly turn into "Winix", certainly if Mono encroaches much further. It already has "exclusive rights" under Microsoft's protection racket (as far as MS are concerned) for various other forms of Windows interoperability (Exchange/Evolution, OOXML/ODF, Virtualisation etc.), so it's practically an MS product already.

Why bother developing ("Microsoft don't develop software, they buy software"), when they can just groom their pet monkey and get it to code the next Windows for them?

"Windows 2020, now based on UNIX technology, just like the Mac."

How novel(l).


In the reply, this person whose opinion I value enormously, was referring to this recent article (different context).

Asked about these problems, Arno Edelmann, Microsoft's European business security product manager, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the code itself has pieces missing. "Usually Microsoft doesn't develop products, we buy products. It's not a bad product, but bits and pieces are missing," said Edelmann.


So, we might as well ask ourselves, what is the probability of Novell getting acquired by Microsoft, which will then sell "Linux on steroids" (boasting Windows compatibility and certain 'protections')?

NindowsAs we mentioned just days ago, Dan Lyons, who is close to Microsoft, published an article with the headline "Microsoft Linux" when Novell and Microsoft entered their partnership. On many other occasions we said this too. It is not the first time that we mention "Microsoft Linux", either. Over time we just have gathered more evidence and puzzle pieces to support this scary thought. Shane once said that Novell is Microsoft's "Linux department" for the time being.

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