(Column) - Novell has just been full of surprises lately. I'd point out some previous examples, but I think that the current headlines surfacing at Google News speak for themselves. As news first started coming in about Novell opening up their openSuse Build Service, I remained somewhat skeptical. I mean, why now? What are they really up to?

As an Ubuntu user, I found myself looking for the angle as Novell has long since lost my trust after giving Microsoft the keys to their front door (in the virtual sense). And as this whole thing felt more and more suspicious as to their future motive for such a move, it all started to make sense:

Maybe this isn't as bad as I think it is. I could simply ignore this part of the story and look at the good stuff Novell's efforts will bring forth to the Linux community. After all, this article does have a warm fuzzy side to it as well. Still, the whole comment above really creep me out.

Please Keep the Cream Out of My Coffee. I honestly don't care what Novell does for Microsoft. Considering that both Linux and Windows are a part of my life on a daily basis, they can do whatever they want together. That sits just fine with me - as long as their OS efforts remain separate.

Alright, so what is the big deal with the potential of Novell creating Windows packages? This seems perfectly harmless enough. Well, to someone like me, I cannot help but feel like this concept could lead to future problems with Microsoft interference within the Linux world. Seriously, once that company has a vested stake in something, the likelihood that everything in their path will become lawn mulch is quite high. One only has to look at the Xbox 360 vs. Sony's Playstation 3 as an example to get a general consensus. Granted, in this case they have a superior product as Sony's console was considered to be a lot of hot air. Whether or not this is true is open for interpretation, however.

Buy a Copy of SuSE 10.0 NOW!

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