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Microsoft, Novell To Sell Linux Licenses In China (InformationWeek)

InformationWeek takes a look at an extension of the Novell-Microsoft pact into Chinese markets. Both want to convert unsupported Linux users into supported users of SUSE Linux. "Mirroring the companies' partnership in the West, Microsoft will buy certificates for SUSE Linux service and support from Novell and resell them to its Chinese customers. Microsoft and Novell also said they plan to host a series of roundtable discussions with corporate chief information officers in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing to promote the program."
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Incorrect title "Microsoft, Novell To Sell Linux Licenses In China"

Posted Apr 22, 2008 1:33 UTC (Tue) by stuart_hc (subscriber, #9737) [Link]

The title is incorrect as there are no licenses being sold. What is being sold are "certificates for three-year support subscriptions for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell" (from the Novell press release). Neither the Novell press release nor even the Microsoft press release make any mention of licenses.

It would have been helpful for the editor to point this out in the summary.

"Linux licenses"

Posted Apr 22, 2008 12:52 UTC (Tue) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link]

They're selling patent licenses that they assert you need to have in order to run Linux, so in
that sense they're "Linux licenses."

(Yes, on paper they're not called "patent licenses" but that's what they are.)

Incorrect title "Microsoft, Novell To Sell Linux Licenses In China"

Posted Apr 22, 2008 15:33 UTC (Tue) by cortana (subscriber, #24596) [Link]

They are only called such so that Novel and Microsoft can weasel out of the patent-licensing
clauses of the GPL.

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