Please pay careful attention to objective articles which analyse the Microsoft/Novell deal. Those that are not delivered by Microsoft analysts (or apologists) are rather consistent in their conclusion. Here are two of the latest:

Redmond vs. Red Hat: Divide and conquer

You have to give Microsoft credit. With one announcement the company significantly undermined the enterprise Linux movement while superficially offering it support.

Microsoft, Novell and Echoes of SCO

Microsoft is giving away 70,000 coupons for SLES to customers who want to run Windows and Linux together. These are "stay out of court free" cards that hope to derail customers' existing relationships with other commercial Linux vendors. It's a quick rise to prominence for Novell while its competitors run for cover.

Yesterday I spotted an article that supports the deal. Unsurprisingly, however, it was composed by a Microsoft analyst who has just been banned by the New York Times for neglecting to disclose a key affiliation while commenting on Microsoft products. The article also lists IDC and Gartner as biased sources which have, over time, built relationships with Microsoft.

Another article supporting the deal came from a Redmond magazine/site. This was authored by a Microsoft Professional, but yet again, there was too little (perhaps nothing at all) to indicate this.

Be very careful whose advice you take and who you listen to. The studies, much like self-serving press releases and mainstream media, contain a lot of bias. More examples are included below.

• Shill season
• Microsoft Press Releases: Read Between the Lines
• Corporate Propaganda Still On the News: Study Finds Local Stations Overwhelmingly Fail to Disclose VNRs
• Bill Gates lends cash to buy newspapers - $350 million to MediaNews
• A new Microsoft-commissioned anti-Linux study debuts
• IDC pronounces Linux unimportant to European economy (Microsoft-commissioned study)
• FTC Moves to Unmask Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Microsoft Traps and Hunts for Bloggers in India !!