• On mySimon: Victoria's Secret Vanilla Orchid
July 2, 2008 8:33 PM PDT

Microsoft "endorses" Linux?

by Matt Asay
  • Font size
  • Print
  • Post a comment

Come on, Novell, I can see touting SAP's seal of approval on SUSE Linux, but Microsoft? I found this banner on Novell's page today (while looking for a logo for an earlier post), and I laughed as I read, "A quick and easy way to certify..." and then this:

(Credit: Novell)

Bravo for interoperability. But Microsoft gets paid to put Novell, Red Hat, etc. out of business. That is its fiduciary duty. The minute Novell starts cutting into Microsoft's profits is the minute that Microsoft's "endorsement" disappears.

It may be momentarily good marketing (and I actually doubt that), but I don't think it's a good long-term strategy. Microsoft has a cash cow (Windows) to defend. Everything it does is designed to boost Windows to the hurt of competitors like Linux. Yes, even SUSE Linux. This feels like playing with fire....

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay.
Recent posts from The Open Road
Come on, Google, subsidize me
Should enterprise IT piggyback on consumer Web?
Apple ceding open-source app market to Google?
Zimbra buy to raise VMware's cloud ante
Can open source be consumer friendly?
An application war is brewing in the cloud
2010 the year of cloud-computing...M&A
Canonical shines its Ubuntu light on consumers
advertisement

Google's mobile hopes go beyond Nexus One

The world may have thrilled to the potential for a Google Phone, but what Google actually unveiled is its plan for a new smartphone world order.
• Photos: Unboxing Nexus One

Using your smartphone safely

faq Worms, Trojans, and SMS attacks are risks for mobile phones, but the biggest practical threat to users is losing the device.

About The Open Road

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to the Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is general manager of the Americas division and vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

Add this feed to your online news reader

The Open Road topics

advertisement
advertisement

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right