It's hard to imagine of a deal that would allow Microsoft to pose as a champion of choice and plurality, but the acquisition of the leading Linux company by dismal media conglomerate AOL/Time Warner may just do the trick.
According to the Washington Post AOL/Time Warner is in "fluid" discussions to acquire Red Hat, the only consistently profitable Linux operation. "Fluid" means one of two things: either they're all sitting in a huge jacuzzi, or nothing has been agreed.
The sources' affiliations aren't identified, let alone named, and the pairing looks improbable. The two have very different interests that intersect only slightly, and Red Hat's high stock to earnings ratio makes it a poor buy, even for a buyer that urgently needed its assets.
Remember that Time Warner merged with AOL to provide the former with an electronic delivery platform - although it already had one, with an extensive cable TV franchise - and the latter with content.
Red Hat, meanwhile, is the predominant enterprise business server Linux, with interests in developer tools and embedded systems.
News source: The Register - Who wins if AOL swallows RedHat?
