It smacks of the Hitler and Stalin alliance. Two bitter enemies getting together to bonk the other bad guys on the head.

- Consultor Anônimo (comentando a aliança MS+Novell)

No mesmo tema, dois pontos de vista (w/o trocadilho) bem diferentes:

"I think we're seeing the beginning of the end of Linux, much the way IE was the beginning of the end of Netscape, SQL Server was the beginning of the end of everyone else's desktop database system, and Excel and Word and a good deal more also succeeded in co-opting technology and product options in the marketplace: The ever-tightening embrace of Microsoft eventually assimilates everything that it touches. Unless history is to be rewritten with this one deal, Linux never looked worse off than it did today."

Opinião do Josh Greenbaum, em seu blog Enterprise Anti-Matter.

Do mesmo hospedeiro (ZDNet) vem a discordância do Dana Gardner:

"Welcome to the 'Linux Everywhere' world. Microsoft now loves Linux, even if Steve Ballmer wouldn't don a penguin suit.

"Yes, Linux, I think we can safely say, has won. Oracle wants to get it to you cheap. Microsoft wants to let you choose how to deploy your applications — on Linux or Windows instances, perhaps on the same machine or blade rack. Intel, AMD, Dell, HP, IBM, Sun — they all just love Linux.

"Linux has never been in better shape, as long as Microsoft doesn't think you're abusing their intellectual property. Microsoft today with its Novell agreements is essentially offering Linux indemnification when Windows and Linux play together. But you will pay for it. Want to be safe using Linux and Windows together? Better buy SuSe support from Novell. That's the message."

IMHO: sacanagem estrategicamente calculada. A entrada da Oracle no negócio de serviços Linux foi só o empurrãozinho que a MS tava esperando para tirar do armário outro saco de maldades (e FUD). Eu queria muito estar errado. Não é o "início do fim do Linux". Mas pode ser o início de outro período de "ataques jurídicos". Tanto que o Dana pergunta no mesmo post: Quem tem mais medo dos advogados da MS?