On Novell and Microsoft

On Novell and Microsoft

I see this deal as about the future, not the present or past. I think that
MS is being pressured by its customers to do more for interoperability
with Linux, and has come to realise that Linux is here to stay for at
least the medium term. However, the only asset MS has is its IP, so it
cannot (in its eyes) release it in any form.

I'm not a developer, so perhaps you could comment on this is a potential
scenario. Let's say that MS writes its own version of Samba, with its own
code, and inserts it into a Suse distribution through separate processes
and clean interfaces, so that it is not GPL encumbered in any way, but is
under an MS license. Let's call it Mamba, for convenience.

Mamba will contain MS IP, and let's assume it's protected by patents. So
Suse can ship to its customers with no problem. It can even add GPL code
to the kernel to interface to Mamba, but no one else in the community
could get access to Mamba. Of course, the implementation is much better
than Samba because of the extra code that MS can supply. Novell can see
that it gives them a gain among corporations by being able to offer better
interoperation than Redhat that is not protected by this deal.

This enables MS to divide the Linux suppliers into 2 camps, and divide and
rule is the game here. They can also claim to Europe that they are doing
something for interoperability - look go get Suse from Novell.

If this is possible, I hope it doesn't happen. We can't afford to split
under this type of pressure, only under technical and quality pressures.