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February 9, 2007 11:23 AM PST
Microsoft: Novell deal a milestone despite squabbles
Last modified: February 9, 2007 11:25 AM PST
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Nonetheless, Microsoft top lawyer Brad Smith hails the deal as a landmark that still holds the potential of bringing together the open-source and commercial software business models.
"I actually think that when the decade is through, we'll look back, and we'll say the agreement between Microsoft and Novell was one of the most important milestones in the decade from an (intellectual property) perspective," Smith said Thursday at a dinner with a handful of journalists.
Brad Smith
That may be, but the two principals in the deal have hardly been sending love letters to one another. Microsoft and Novell on November 2 announced the pact, under which Microsoft agreed not to sue Novell Linux customers for patent infringement, while Novell agreed to pay Microsoft royalties, among other provisions.
That same month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claimed that the deal amounted to an admission that Linux infringes on Microsoft patents. Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian took issue with that in an open letter.
"Our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property," Hovsepian said in the letter.
Public agreement isn't necessary, so long as the deal is in place, Smith said.
"People can debate how much (the patent protection) is needed, but the reality is it's provided," Smith said.
And while Microsoft and Novell exchanged verbal jabs, customers have really taken to the notion, Smith said. Under the deal, Microsoft resells certificates for Novell Linux software and support. In the three months since the deal was inked, Smith said, Microsoft has seen far more sales of the certificates than it had anticipated. The company initially laid plans for up to 70,000 certificates to be sold in the first year. In the first three months, it has already sold more than 35,000, according to a company representative.
Smith is also looking for pacts with other companies that distribute Linux or use it in their products.
"We are having discussions with other companies that I think share an interest in exploring this kind of model," Smith said. "That includes companies that distribute open-source software, and it includes companies in the embedded space."
He declined to offer any specific names, however.
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Ya as the beginning of the end of Suse... I used both Red Hat and Suse before this agreement, now I only use Red Hat.
MS only does things in the effort to make things better for MS. Open source movements do things in the effort to better things for the software itself. Better software equals better things for the customer and society as a whole.
Red Hat makes it's money on services not the software. Red Hat also does things in an effort to make things better for Red Hat, but it's based on open source which is a more customer friendly model. Therefore you are in a better position as a customer because there is never any concern of theft or software audits, plus the prices are lower.
In the case of Novel, they are getting in bed with a company that is notoriously customer unfriendly and it can only lead to the same result coming from them. I guarantee you that in no time you will start to see these same kind of threatening things coming out of Suse that you do MS. Things like software audits and school teachers getting hauled of to Siberia... That's why I won't use them, not until they break the deal..
But there are plenty of alternatives that are safer for customers.
Another question, Novell has some link to opensuse which it distributes for free. There is, I'm sure, nothing in the deal that keeps M$ from suing for patent infringement over the free versions since no royalties are paid. So much for free open source software and operating systems... If the free versions are protected (doubtful) then this would truly be a breakthrough.
I think not. Look at the facts: Every threat to Microsoft's illegal monopolistic behaviors and practices is met with "Embrace and Extend" or "Embrace and Extinguish." This situation is no different. Microsoft has no desire to see this agreement work.
- Still smells fishy.
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by Penguinisto
February 10, 2007 4:37 PM PST
- Three words: "Plays For Sure". Ask MSFT's partners in that deal
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See all 27 Comments >>how things went for them.
I think MSFT is trying for the same play here (to wit: "Embrace,
Extend, Extinguish"). That said, I think MSFT seriously
underestimates what they think they're getting into here.
That, or they're trying to wipe out at least one distro maker, that
being Novell. Problem is, RedHat's distro and its variants are
dominant... even if SuSE fell off the Earth tomorrow, it wouldn't
slow down Linux' dominance in the server arena, or its explosive
growth elsewhere.
/P