Microsoft see a threat from Canonical

[motang]

to accomplish this Canonical needs better marketing. They need to count their users to increase user awareness. Until this happens, I dont see Canonical a big thread to M$ and Apple. The biggest thread to M$ is Google.

True, but the fact that MS has heard of Canonical is a big win in my book!

[phrostbyte]

erm... did you ever hear about Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop? Suse Linux Enterprise server maybe?

Maybe you know about this small island in the south of the channel, called europe and France. There is a car manufacturer (something britain doesn't have anymore) called PSA. And they have 20000 (twentythousand) Suse Linux Enterprise Desktops.

Okay there are also lots of companies who use Ubuntu but Canonical does not have the size of Novell and Red Hat. Thats why both of them are a bigger threat to Microsoft.


ah okay, but maybe the agreement Novell did was also good for their customers in terms of interoperability?
So maybe Novell has brought themselves in a position of an even bigger threat to Microsoft.

Not really, they kind of exposed their customer to some patent liability inadvertently. Because they signed a 5 year contract, something like 2 years ago. So in 3 years Microsoft has the right to sue anyone using SUSE Linux, and it will be easier to do so, since SUSE of all distros is most likely to violate Microsoft patents because of all the highly patented "interoperability work".

Historically, almost everyone who has done a major deal with Microsoft has been stabbed in the back. They are very good at making deals that look appealing at first, but wrecking the business of the group they did a deal with using technicalities. See: Apple, IBM for examples.

[Ericj1186]

I agree. Ubuntu will continue to remain relatively popular but I don't think it will unseat Windows any time soon.

I look forward to see if Google can put up a serious fight against Windows. Even for a company as big as Google it is very difficult, IBM tried with OS/2 and failed. Apple puts billions of dollars into marketing and developing Mac, and while they are quite profitable, even during the economic slump. But OS X marketshare is something like 25x less then Windows worldwide.

But at the same time I think today Microsoft is not as big and powerful as they were in ~2000. The Internet and rapid fire anti-trust lawsuits weakened them quite a bit. So where IBM failed it is possible for Google to succeed.

To be fair to Linux, this was the first year that Microsoft has dropped below 90% market share. That on its own is impressive. I think it broke down to OSX having around 7 or 8% and Linux taking the rest. I remember Linux wasn't huge, but it is growing. Basically, Vista was the best thing to happen to Linux.

[Viva]

Not really, they kind of exposed their customer to some patent liability inadvertently. Because they signed a 5 year contract, something like 2 years ago. So in 3 years Microsoft has the right to sue anyone using SUSE Linux, and it will be easier to do so, since SUSE of all distros is most likely to violate Microsoft patents because of all the highly patented "interoperability work".

Historically, almost everyone who has done a major deal with Microsoft has been stabbed in the back. They are very good at making deals that look appealing at first, but wrecking the business of the group they did a deal with using technicalities. See: Apple, IBM for examples.

http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalve...hoicepaper.pdf

This document looks further into the said details including quotes from microsoft employees.

[phrostbyte]

Actually, Microsoft has a really nice legal avenue to seriously damage Linux thanks to the Novell agreement.

Microsoft has been filing patents at a ridiculous rate in the past 4-5 years. Building up a legal warchest against their competitors.

So Microsoft signs an agreement with Novell, allowing Novell to use patented Microsoft technology without risk. But this intentionally has a short time limit, long enough for Novell to integrate enough patented Microsoft technology.

After it expires, they will sue Novell and all their customers. No thanks to Novell sharing their customer list with Microsoft.

A lawsuit is just a lawsuit though. Why target Novell and not Red Hat for instance?

Easy. I am not convinced that Novell will get the same level of support from the Linux community that Canonical or Red Hat would get if sued by Microsoft. Less people finding prior art, less public support. This will make Microsoft's case easier.

Microsoft WANTS Novell to look bad in the eyes of the Linux community. So sites like BoycottNovell and what not I think are ironically helping Microsoft.

If they sue and win a patent case against a major Linux vendor, this will greatly increase their chances of winning lawsuits against Canonical and Red Hat, even with public support.

[phrostbyte]

http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalve...hoicepaper.pdf

This document looks further into the said details including quotes from microsoft employees.

Yes, it has always been Microsoft modus operandi to completely screw anyone who signs a contract with them. That is literally the foundation of their business and success. It's the core of everything Microsoft has done to become a billion dollar behemoth. They know how to sign contracts to their advantage.

I don't see how the Novell deal or the Yahoo deal will end up any different.

[KiwiNZ]

The MS Novell debate is a Red hearing . It has also been discussed ad nauseum

Lets move on

[Dark Aspect]

They might soon offer to port MS Office to linux in exchange for making IE the default browser on Ubuntu

Considering that openoffice and firefox are both better, that offer won't do much for me.

[the8thstar]

I've read the article on that link. I am removing Windows 7 RC from my drive immediately. That is final. Microsoft is the embodiment of everything unethical in a business : deception, aggressiveness and lies. I don't care if they are number 1, I don't care if I have less 'compatibility' because I use only Linux. In the end, I am just another cow to milk for them... We all are. Enough is enough. Shame on you Microsoft and shame on your unfair practices.

[Viva]

I've read the article on that link. I am removing Windows 7 RC from my drive immediately. That is final. Microsoft is the embodiment of everything unethical in a business : deception, aggressiveness and lies. I don't care if they are number 1, I don't care if I have less 'compatibility' because I use only Linux. In the end, I am just another cow to milk for them... We all are. Enough is enough. Shame on you Microsoft and shame on your unfair practices.

Is that supposed to be sarcastic?