bjoernvold.com

Microsoft had a deal with Novell but since Novell was sold to Attachmate, SUSE was established as an independent business unit. MS decided to renew the deal throughout 2015 with SUSE. Let us hope it is not about a longer needed embrace and extend period before the extinguishing can begin Under the renewed agreement, Microsoft is committed to purchasing $100 million worth of SUSE Linux certificates through 2015. Microsoft and SUSE also will work together to build and market software and services that combine Windows and Linux technology. ...critics of the arrangement say it amounts to little more than a high-tech protection racket, under which Microsoft wields the threat of lawsuits to get organizations that run Linux to purchase the certificates. .

And it is speculated if the deal is against GPLv3 and thus illegal:

The spokesman said that the Free Software Foundation believes parts of the most recent version of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3), which governs the use of some Linux components, may prohibit payment-for-indemnification deals such as Microsoft's arrangement with SUSE. "The FSF is investigating whether the proposed SUSE-Microsoft deal is consistent with these terms," the group said.

Microsofts answer is classic:

Microsoft said that more than 700 businesses and other organizations currently participate in its SUSE Linux program.

Right! And more than one billion flies eat shit........

And I suggest that no one here has any clue how much Linux & Microshit are in bed with each other overall, so we need to quit complaining. Linux actually uses Microcrap innovation for their own bread & butter, rather than any of it's own. M$ does a proggie, Linux has to have one just like it of its own. MS Office--->Libre/OpenOffice is only one of many examples. It's one thing to be able to connect to Microsoft computers. Quite another to use their software ideas. Sorry, but that's the straight-up.

Well I think you give Microsoft some undeserved credit there as the inventor of all things.
Word perfect and Lotus symphony were first and MS had to copy that.
A car has to have a wheel and it has to be round so there have to be similarities. But Microsoft has to supply code to Linux to keep up interoptabillity. MS cannot be successful without being able to communicate with Linux servers.
So yes they are contributing to Linux in their own interest. Having called Linux cancer and communism it must be fairly humiliating to them.
And in the supercomputer market Microsoft is non existent so they need SUSE's help there too.
If we are pragmatic it is a good thing that those OS'es can communicate.

Yes. And Linux continually allows & propagates M$ interoperability, why? It's their bread & butter! When has Linux come up with something completely different software-wise? Ever wonder why it's so all-fire important to Linux to keep the M$ wheel going, rather that its own systems? Think any real Linux user gives two shakes if they interoperate with Windows? Nope. We know it's really the other way around. Those proprietary bastards should be striving to interoperate with us!

Well they are!
Communication is important.
If you have an Android phone should it only be able to call other Android phones? Also there you have something new that "Linux" has come up with. There are 500000 Android phones activated every day. Linux Android is so big that there even exist viruses for it.
And the software for stock exchanges is pretty specialized software that "Linux" has come up with too! Leaving Microsoft in the dust on real business terms (it does not get any more business than the Stock Exchange )
But more to the point: What would you like to be invented? I sense that you are criticizing Linux - so what should Linux come up with?

I believe that I touched on that here at the forum before. If I weren't on my phone that doesn't let me get links, I'd get & post it here.

Space exploration, & I'm not talking Celestia. Think JPL. Economical cars. Cheaper to make & run both. Desktop, change the look & operability & I'm not talking Gnome 3. Mac did this in their open source days. Linux sure can. New software to do completely different things, with what's already there. And yes I do criticise Linux for not shooting for the moon, figuratively and literally. Linux needs a "hook" all its own to make the market jump for it. It's the one thing I do criticise it for. If the system you have doesn't sell, then it's time to find another one. Yes, good on them for the SE, but Linux has potential to do so much more! it's time to find another one. Yes, good on them for the SE, but Linux has potential to do so much more!

Damn phone won't let me edit that! I Have no clue why that post came out like that, either.

It happens.