As reported here, Chris Stone has suddenly left Novell.

Someone on Slashdot is claiming that he's moving to Microsoft.

That seems unlikely (as followup posts there imply) given that the circumstances look like a typical sacking.

But the story on the Register yesterday (referring to Novell's PR counter-attack against Microsoft) has this interesting comment:

As with many marketing battles the set-to is generating more heat than light. One important point - the timing of Novell's counter-offensive - has largely gone unnoticed. Yesterday Novell's vice-chairman Chris Stone unexpectedly left the company to pursue "other opportunities". Stone was a key player in Novell's Linux strategy and it's tempting to see the timing - if not the substance - of Novell's counterblast as designed to divert attention away from his departure.

Can anyone tell us more?