[sf-lug] Windows and Linux OS to work together

[Rick Moen]

I wrote:

> My take:  Novell has just agreed to pay protection money through 2012
> to evade being sued for patent violation, leaving the rest of the
> Linux community to face Microsoft's latest anticompetitive weapon of
> choice without their assistance.  The rest of it's PR fluff.

A friend just pointed out John Paczkowski's comment at "Good Morning
Silicon Valley", which as usual is dead-on and utterly priceless:

   Ha ha!  You fool!  You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! 
   The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but 
   only slightly less well-known is this: nobody ever benefits from 
   a Microsoft partnership except Microsoft!

http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2006/11/ha_ha_you_fool_.html

Another friend's reply, when someone else on a mailing list asked what
it meant:  "The Molotov - von Ribbentrop Pact of the 21st Century.
You're welcome."

Anyhow, "industry alliances" are usually 98%+ PR fluff.