Free software audience is shrinking.

At which point I started to get angry. This is untrue - surely? It ignores all the growth of OpenSource in the "third world", all the change-overs in European governments and schools. In fact it ignores just about everything that's happened in the last 2-3 years.
Ok, this is propaganda - plain and simple. Designed to make users think that Linux is good for nothing other than servers. And that it's only "safe and reliable" if it's running in a nice Windows environment. This sort of blatant lying I expect from Microsoft, but how does Novell fit into this? Bent over a barrel sans clothing I suspect.

So here we are then, being divided prior to being conquered. Microsoft are clearly trying to split Linux into sensible people who embrace (the need for) proprietary code and the "ever dwindling band of lunatics, "personalities" and extremists who want everything to be open and fair".

A certain Mr.Levy from Novell says "we cannot control how people react to this agreement." - Implication being that poor old Novell is misunderstood and that out there in woodentop land people are stupid and prone to react wrongly to things their poor little heads just don't grasp.

Newflash Mr. Levy - we get it. We get it completely, that's why we're so angry!

The article goes on to quote Mr. Levy; "Microsoft hopes to drive all those customers to virtualise Linux on WIndows"

Well duh, so they can sell them useless server licenses so the "free software" they have is useless, insecure and not free anymore. What use is a Linux server if it's running on Windows with all that that implies in terms of crashes, vulnerability and security holes? This will turn many off Linux, hiding it's true power and capability. Which is what Microsoft fears more than anything. Not only is it better, it's also free. If the message really gets out to the big corporate IT decision makers that this is the case then Microsoft are finished.

Thankyou Novell for making this less likely than it was before.