Hi Guys,
got this one hot off the Network worlds linux and open source news
press. It appears both Microsoft and Novell have agreed to disagree
over patent enfringement, and that Novell signing the patent document
verifies that the linux operating system infringes on Microsoft's
already existing patents....
What did brad say about letting the fox into the hen house....
daN
Network World's Linux & Open Source Newsletter, 11/29/06
Microsoft vs. Novell, between the lines
By Phil Hochmuth
With friends like Microsoft, who needs SCO?
This is what Novell and the open source community are learning just a
few weeks after Microsoft and Novell made their historic intellectual
property an code interoperability deal.
Speaking at a conference of SQL database users in mid-November,
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made it clear that his company's embracing
of Novell SUSE Linux is not a universal show of altruism to Linux
technology.
"The fact that [Linux] uses our patented intellectual property is a
problem for our shareholders," Ballmer said to the crowd. "In a
sense," he added later in the talk, "you could say anybody who has got
Linux in their data center today sort of has an undisclosed balance
sheet liability."
Ballmer stated Microsoft's stance that Linux infringes on Microsoft's
intellectual property. The only Linux users not in violation of this
are, through the recent Novell deal, SUSE Linux users. Everyone else:
put that law firm on speed dial.
So with the Microsoft-Novell deal just weeks old, contentions public
statements are already flying between the two companies.
"We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic
of Linux and patents," said Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian in an open
letter. "Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an
acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual
property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with
Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other
Novell offering violates Microsoft patents."
Novell is now realizing how slippery the slope is with its Microsoft
deal, given that company's position on Linux and open source, and the
fact the lifeblood of Novell's Linux offering - and, some would argue,
the future of the company itself - depends on the open source
community.
Answering the Hovsepian statement, Microsoft had this to say:
"Microsoft and Novell have agreed to disagree on whether certain open
source offerings infringe Microsoft patents and whether certain
Microsoft offerings infringe Novell patents … We at Microsoft respect
Novell's point of view on the patent issue, even while we respectfully
take a different view."
It's easy to see this Microsoft-Novell saga becoming more rancorous
and out-of-control in the near term. (Remember when SCO began suing
its own customers running SCO/Linux shops?) It's hard to see how the
Microsoft-Novell pact will make it easier and cheaper for enterprise
IT professionals to run a mixed Windows/Linux network.
--
_____________________________________________________________
" They that can give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin 1706 - 1790
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