One man can end the Microsoft-Linux feud

And I think he will.

I don't think it's a coincidence, or a mere marketing choice, that caused Gates to pop up as the public face of the Windows Vista launch last week, after publicly retiring six months earlier.

I don't think it's coincidence that Gates' wife, Melinda, has suddenly taken on a more public role with their foundation.

I think that, as they used to say on Star Trek, the captain's on the bridge.

There's a reason for that. Microsoft has a crisis on its hands. Steve Ballmer's ham-fisted attitude toward open source has pushed Microsoft toward the rocks. Have you noticed Ballmer hasn't been making public statements lately, yet he's supposed to be CEO?

It's true that the Free Software Foundation's power play, its vow to write the GPLv3 license in such a way as to exclude Novell, because of its Microsoft deal, is less than it appears. Novell will not be forbidden from selling Linux. What's important are the appearances, and right now those don't look good.

My guess is there are a lot of meetings taking place in Redmond today, and a lot of phone calls were made over the weekend, and this controversy is going to go away soon. Ballmer will either be apologizing or he'll be out on his ear, and Microsoft will make some public statement claiming this was all a misunderstanding.

Because the Gates Foundation can't afford for this controversey to continue, and at the end of the day that is what I believe Bill Gates cares about most.

Now, please, tell me why I'm wrong.