"[The partnership with Microsoft is] going very well insofar as we originally agreed to co-operate on three distinct projects and now we’re working on nine projects and there’s a good list of 19 other projects that we plan to co-operate on."

--Ron Hovsepian, Novell CEO

Summary: The reciprocal relationship between Microsoft and Novell continues to be made more apparent

NOVELL is a very .NET-focused company at the moment. The staff spends a great deal of time speaking about it, and not just the technical staff. The latest output from Novell's Mono team is curious; It looks like a Microsoft product developed at Novell and it is called MonoTouch. We wrote about it in:

• CodePlex Foundation Loves Software Patents and What MonoTouch Means to Microsoft
• More Thoughts About the Microsoft CodePlex Foundation: New Links
• Miguel de Icaza “is Basically a Traitor to the Free Software Community,” Says Richard Stallman
• Novell, Microsoft, and the “Microsoft Hater” Daemonisation Label

Novell has actually worked on MonoTouch for several months and the output of this programme thus far is truly marvelous... to Microsoft. Watch this new report from the Microsoft site Neowin:

A few days ago, Novell unveiled its new 'MonoTouch' SDK to be used for developing iPhone applications in .NET...

The developer, Foundation42, posted their milestone via Twitter, showing the power of Novell's new SDK and what can be achieved with it. The game that was ported is called WordMonger, and was displayed on a YouTube video which we have included below. Many have questioned Microsoft's games which were included with the Zune HD, as (although they're free) they display a short ad each time they are launched.

That's right. Novell has just helped enrich the Zune. That's the idea of .NET promotion. Novell does not seem to be doing so much apart from this.

Just looking at Novell news in general, there is hardly anything noteworthy (other than demise, as shown in the previous post). What sure does exist in the news feeds are anti-Red Hat whitepapers from Novell. They continue to appear this week, just as they have over the past couple of months. Those papers do not target Windows or even UNIX; Novell's own Web site is very focused on just poaching existing users of GNU/Linux (mostly from Red Hat).

ITWire has another new report which goes under the headline "CodePlex Foundation will help spread use of Mono." It is true and it is hardly surprising. It's an ongoing two-way relationship between Microsoft and Novell (not to be confused with Open/SUSE in Germany).

The appointment of Novell vice-president Miguel de Icaza to the board of Microsoft's CodePlex Foundation has been done for one reason - the Foundation will serve as a handy vehicle to increase the use of Mono.

[...]

Wouldn't that mean less time can be devoted to developing applications for Linux? After all, the same developers are writing the code for both ports, aren't they?

Bingo, the magician arrives, Miguel with his magic Mono wand. No problem, says de Icaza, just switch to Mono. Then you can code just once and it will run on both Windows and Linux.

We wrote about the CodePlex Foundation in:

• OIN Receives Thanks from Many, CodePlex Foundation Receives Thumbs-Down from Many
• Why Microsoft's CodePlex Foundation is a Promoter of Proprietary Software
• Microsoft Runs Away from the Press After Trying to Have GNU/Linux Sued by Proxy
• Novell, Microsoft, and the “Microsoft Hater” Daemonisation Label

There is yet more criticism of Microsoft's CodePlex Foundation in this familiar parable (where the tortoise and fox are swapped):

For years Microsoft has been spreading lies and FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) about Linux in the hopes that they can keep Linux from being widely adopted. Their latest round of lies is the anti-linux propaganda used in training some Best Buy and Staples employees. My opinion is that the reason Microsoft uses these tactics is because their software is so bad that it cannot stand on its own merits. It's sad that Microsoft wastes tons of resources trying to kill Linux instead of using those resources to improve their own software.

[...]

The fox thought about it and finally agreed. So the scorpion climbed up on his back, and the fox began to swim. But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him. As poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, "Why did you do that? Now you'll drown, too."

"I couldn't help it," said the scorpion. "It's my nature."

So, the next time you're disgusted by something Microsoft does, just remember.. it's their nature.

Jason Perlow has just published this post which comes across as a little trollish (especially the picture). Being an IBM employee, it is not surprising that he is critical of Stallman's positions. In conclusion he writes:

Stallman and the FSF, like his Cretaceous ancestors 65 million years ago, isn’t evolved enough to see that his reign is about to come to an end. The Open world needs interoperability, not shut itself off from other standards just because they originate from proprietary sources.

To be fair, Perlow works with two platforms that he connects for clients and also to his credit, he is an advocate of GNU/Linux. But he fails to get acorss a very fundamental point here. He seemingly claims that Microsoft (and Miguel de Icaza) wants interoperability. A bit like the way Microsoft ignored ODF when it comes to interoperability? And instead corrupted standards bodies all around the world?

Novell's type of sought interoperability is about assimilation to Microsoft and paying for software patents that seemingly do not exist. To claim that Mono is about interoperability is to ignore the fact that Microsoft's .NET deliberately excludes platforms other than Windows. ⬆