Robert Love Leaves Novell, Joins Google

As reported in this recent Register article (also seeCNET), in 2002 Paul Flessner (Microsoft's senior VP of server apps), was apparently so incensed about Russell Holt's (VP of Dell's enterprise system group) panel discussion musings regarding Dell's enterprise Linux strategy, that he freaking went OFF within an email rant to his fellow Microsoft generals. The email, unearthed in Iowa antitrust procedings contained the following Flessner exhortation:

The e-mail contains an ongoing discussion of Dell's public commitment to Linux, and 'why in the #&@^%*$ doesn't Dell recognize the value that Microsoft adds to their PC's?!??!' And 'why are they messing up their relationship with Microsoft??!?' Of course if you look closely, they actually answer their own question, but seemingly let it deflect, as if they really didn't want to accept that Dell is just a hardware vendor looking to keep margins low to stay competitive with IBM in a very tight hardware market, especially enterprice server.

Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans reportedly defends the email thread, claiming that the plaintiff is changing the context by not admitting the entire email exchange. Besides, Evans points out that it 's not a smoking gun because the thread doesn't show that Microsoft took any retaliatory action against Dell.

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Whether or not Microsoft took action on this one issue is IMO actually irrelevant. The real piont here is that this email seems to show that Microsoft wasn't beneath at least discussing whacking their strategic business partners in order to keep them in line, which is of course what we've been compaining about for years now. Remember also that the Flessner e-mail was dated *after* Microsoft promised to Netscape-antitrust-trial judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that it would stay on the straight and narrow.

Read World Domination 201 here. He comes to an interesting conclusion. Linspire currently has the agreements in place to SAVE Linux by making a capable multimedia enabled distribution with full legality on it's side. VERY interesting read.

Go to the forums to discuss this further.

The Zune personal media player purchased by a suburban Chicago couple and gifted to their 12-year old daughter came with an extra unadvertised feature: just under 2 hours of gay porn! Reportedly, the store manager attempted to blame the gaffe on Microsoft; But Wal-Mart seems to have quickly changed course once the issue was brought to the attention of the media. Looks like the megagoliath retailer now hopes to smooth the whole affair over with a $25 gift card. Yeah, let's see if the parents are so taken with Wal-Mart's ridiculously cheap-ass offer that they forget all about it. I'm also taking bets on the chances of hell freezing over, let me know. Priceless!

Link: http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/20/walmarts-zunes-now-with-more-porn/

In a move schmecking of anti-competitive knee-jerking, the gi-normous auction behemoth eBay banned auction payment transactions via the new Google pay system, Google Checkout.

In the eBay "Accepted Payments Policy", eBay declares that "This policy is designed to promote safe online shopping, and to encourage online payment methods that are safe, easy to use, reliable, and offer high levels of protection for users." We are left to wonder which of these criteria they used to ban Google Checkout. In the absence of any specific officially published reasoning, users are left to let their imaginations run amok to find a reason; many inferring that eBay is trying to unfairly shield its Paypal asset from having to defend its market against Google's new online payment vehicle.