Where is IBM?

Since the announcement of the Microsoft and Novell deal more than two weeks ago, I noticed that IBM didn't make a single public statement whether they like it or not. I'm little surprised about this as most people in the tech industry know that IBM makes most of its money from Linux. Why are they holding back? I see three possibilities here, there may be more but at the moment I only see three....

• IBM doesn't think that this pact between MS and Novell will do any harm to Linux or the FOSS community in general. Maybe they think that no matter how much Microsoft pushes to hurt Linux, Linux is here to stay, they won't be able to destroy it.


• IBM just wants to sit back and wait to see how things will play out and hopes that if the Redmond lawyers are stupid enough (which I doubt they are) to start a legal battle over intellectual properties against Linux, it can rise up with its huge patent portfolio and slap Microsoft in the face. Remember back in the days when Microsoft pulled out the plug on OS/2 cooperation? This was a huge blow in the face to IBM and ever since then, IBM has been looking for a way to give it back to Microsoft. IBM embraced Linux not only because it saw benefits for its own, but also to somehow hurt Microsoft for what it did to OS/2 and its present monopoly on the market.
  


• A last point could be that IBM is just afraid to make any statements about the deal at the moment because they very well know how sleazy Microsoft can be when it comes to manipulating new market places they enter. IBM is just unsure what to do at the moment.

Again, there may be more possibilities, but at the moment I can think only of those three. As for Microsoft's patents, I really doubt if all of them are even valid. Last time I checked, Microsoft holds a patent on scrollbars. When did Microsoft invent the scrollbars?

M$ + Novell = M$ control of corporate Linux?

The MS/Novell deal caused a pretty big disturbance in the FOSS community. I know that this has been covered many times on a lot of web sites but I just wanted to give my personal point of view and I'll make it as short as possible :)

MS saw for the past 5 years or so that it's losing market share to Linux in the enterprise market and it will continue to lose. Now that they have a deal with one of the major companies that are involved in Enterprise Linux, they can use it to split the FOSS community in two. On one side you'll have the commercial FOSS developers who will be "protected" by this agreement between Novell & MS. On the other side you'll have the non-commercial guy who is contributing to the FOSS community but is not "protected" by MS in any way.

That is what MS is looking for. Once they split the FOSS community in two, which they are trying to do that right now using their contract with Novell to spread FUD that they can sue you if you don't use SUSE products, it will be much easier for them to control the commercial side of Linux trough Novell's SLES/SLED products. When they accomplish this, they can stab Novell in the back by breaking the contract thus making it very easy to enforce their patents if Novell decides to insert some MS code into their products during the contracts period.

I just fail to see how this deal could be good for Novell or the FOSS community in general.