Don Parris of LXer.com recently did an interview with itbusinessedge.com. Therein he suggests reversing parts of the deal that are concerned with patents protection. The interview closes with the following statement:

Both parties need to re-think this... What bothers me most about the agreement is that Novell seems somehow caught off guard by Ballmer's words. Did they not know Microsoft's position going into the deal? Novell should have reasonably known that Microsoft would use this deal to try to scare people into cutting deals with them — and maybe that's the real benefit for Novell. If Microsoft believes [the Linux] community's code infringes [its] patents, why don't they send letters asking the respective coders to cease and desist? That way, the infringement can stop on amicable terms. Otherwise, Microsoft — especially Ballmer — needs to shut up.

Interoperability should have been the one and only aspect from which to gain. Microsoft's advantage clearly came from subtle clauses, which opened to door to convenience in argumentation, e.g. pressuring Red Hat, the European Commission, and spreading unfounded FUD.