Dell to join alliance that isn't

Dell signs on with Microsoft, Novell:

Dell Inc. has agreed to work with Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. under an alliance the rival software makers formed last year to make it easier for the Windows operating system and the increasingly popular Linux system to work together, the companies said Sunday.

As if there was something like a real MS//Novell alliance worth joining.

In other words: Customers are forcing Dell towards Linux, and this is the corporate way to do it.