It is a very bad thing
It allows yet another propeganda point for Microsoft in their plans to seize control of the Internet and make it a private Microsoft.NET preserve. "Look, even the Linux community enthusiastically supports .NET, and you know how much they hate us. If there were a credible alternative they certainly wouldn't be supporting us!"
Java and Liberty Alliance are the credable alternative. Currently they are way ahead, to the point Rational Software, traditionally serving mostly the Microsoft development community, has just announced equal treatment for Java. Right now, .NET is totally vapor, and even PHBs are committed to it only in theory.
Microsoft is always late to a market, but is quite adept at overcoming its lateness with money and marketing. It was very late to the Internet, but in just a few years so dominates it many major Web sites are off limits to anyone not using Windows and a Microsoft Web browser.
Microsoft has every intention of driving all competing products from the Web services market. They have every intention of making it impossible to access much of anything on the Internet without going through Passport.NET. They fully intend to accomplish what they stated many years ago, to charge a "vig" on every electronic transaction made anywhere. The more people support .NET, the closer they are to this goal.
Miguel de Icaza, who failed to become a Microsoft employee only because of a fine print clause on his H1-B visa, has maintained a single minded admiration for Microsoft, and by his high profile in the Linux community, is materially aiding Microsoft in achieving its goals.
