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Could Microsoft products be in violation of some of the patents that cover Linux and open-source technologies, as many in the community believe?

Microsoft is not admitting to any such thing, but it is also not ruling out the possibility that Windows may have infringed on patents held by Novell and others in the open-source community.

There has been so much controversy about the deal and its implications that Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian released an open letter to the community Nov. 20 in which he rejected the notion that its recent agreement with Microsoft acknowledges that Linux infringes on the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker's intellectual property.

Is Microsoft Violating Some Patents Covering Open Source?


Just about everyone has expressed an opinion on the Novell/Microsoft patent agreement -- except, that is, for the 800-pound gorilla of Linux: IBM. Today, Scott Handy, IBM's VP of Worldwide Linux and Open Source, decided that enough was enough and it was time to state IBM's position.

In an interview with Linux-Watch.com, Handy (pictured at left) opened by saying that, "IBM has long supported interoperability between Windows and Linux. As supporters of open source and open standards," he continued, "we applaud any effort to bridge this gap."

In that statement, OIN CEO Jerry Rosenthal said, "Hearing Microsoft agree that Linux is a major force in the information technology industry is welcome news. Many IT customers and software programmers have recognized that Linux is a first-rate computer operating system with performance, stability and cost-of-ownership that compares well with all its competitors, including Microsoft's own offerings."

Handy put it more strongly, though. From where he sits, Microsoft's Novell deal indicates that "Microsoft is coming to terms with the fact that Linux is an unstoppable force in the marketplace."

IBM sees Novell/MS deal benefiting Linux



The authors of the forthcoming General Public Licence version 3 (GPL3) plan to add a provision that blocks the Novell-Microsoft patent agreement.

Eben Moglen, one of the co-authors of the upcoming license, is an outspoken critic of the partnership that Microsoft and Novell unveiled earlier this month. The two companies signed interoperability and distribution agreements as well as a patent covenant that protects users of Novell's Suse Linux distribution against intellectual property claims from Microsoft.

The patent agreement goes against the ideals of the free software movement to which Moglen subscribes. Headed up by GPL creator Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation, its supporters believe that all software should be available free of charge and without any patent threat. By charging Novell a fee for its intellectual property, Microsoft is effectively forcing Novell Linux users to pay Microsoft for the software.

GPL3 authors to sabotage Novell Microsoft patent pact ...


Novell will definitely fork any open source software that moves to GPLv3. This is not surprising given that Novell is now being bankrolled by M$. It also appears that M$ is willing to fund such forks, in the name of interoperability.

This is going to effectively divide the open source community. If Samba moves to GPLv3, which is very likely, then we are going to see another version of samba, tightly integrated to M$ framework. Microsoft have already made it clear that they will partner open source companies who are willing to buy their business model. Novell have already bought that model so they may be receiving more funds from Microsoft.

Another array of products that are going to be forked are FSF sponsored projects. These projects will surely jump to GPLv3 and Novell will be left exposed. I do not see them having any other option besides a fork. Talk of GCC and related utilities.

Novell will fork any Open Source app that moves to GPL3!!


While Microsoft Corp. may cast the Nov. 2 patent cooperation agreement it pushed on new partner Novell Corp. as a way to protect corporate users of the SUSE Linux operating system from potential lawsuits, CIOs today said they weren't worried in the first place.

"I do not believe that my company has an "undisclosed balance sheet liability," Russ Donnan, CIO at business information provider Kroll Factual Data, said in an e-mail response to questions from Computerworld about the Microsoft deal. Kroll Factual, a Loveland, Colo.-based subsidiary of global services provider Marsh & McLennan Companies, uses Red Hat Linux servers along with Windows servers in its data center.

Donnan, who described himself as "not a huge fan of software patents," said "the threat of such a 'liability' would not in any way influence" whether Kroll would stick with Red Hat or move to SUSE or even Windows. "Steve Ballmer is posturing for mind share to enterprise executives, knowing it will have little to no impact on IT executives," he said.

Barry Strasnick, CIO of North Quincy, Mass. financial services provider CitiStreet LLC, was even more emphatic.

Linux users to Microsoft: What 'balance sheet liability'?


For those who have forgotten, IBM, Novell (yes, the same Novell), Philips, Red Hat, Sony and NEC started the Open Invention Network in 2005 to pool patents to protect Linux and open source software. Since that time, OIN has purchased 100 patents with the purpose of making Faustian pacts like the Microsoft/Novell deal unnecessary.

Today, the OIN responded to the Microsoft/Novell deal as follows:

"We at OIN believe that the openness and collaborative culture of the Linux community is an engine for innovation. It is clear that there is significant value in Linux community members' intellectual property and patents....

"Unfortunately, embedded in Microsoft's recent endorsement of Linux are claims regarding customers' needing protection from patent attack. Those claims are baseless. In fact, there have been no patent suits against Linux. While patent disputes are not unheard of between and among software developers and distributors, they are almost always resolved between these commercial entities -- not by dragging in end-user customers. Isn't the real issue the fact that Microsoft is making such a threat against its own customers?

OIN speaks out on the Novell/Microsoft pact
and
Red Hat's Mark Webbink Responds to Novell's Letter to the Community




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