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The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)
InfoWorld takes
a look the Novell-Microsoft deal. "Whatever the implications for
the greater Linux and open source worlds, Novell says the Microsoft deal
has been good for its Suse Linux and for IT shops that use both Suse and
Windows. Customers wanted a "bridge between Microsoft Windows and Linux,"
says Microsoft's Hauser. Customers also wanted peace of mind over potential
intellectual property disputes, since those can take products off the
market or result in additional licensing fees. About 100 customers are
covered by the Novell-Microsoft agreement, she notes."
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The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 5:09 UTC (Wed) by frazier (guest, #3060) [Link]
I found this recently to be an eye opener:
http://www.moreinterop.com/
Check out the video (dated November 2, 2006). Steve Balmer is the first speaker:
Notice the massive repetitive mentions of 'innovation' and of course, how much Balmer is taking about a leading Linux distro and cooperative efforts.
At least for this kid, this helped visualize the whole Novell/Microsoft deal.
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 10:46 UTC (Wed) by NigelK (guest, #42083) [Link]
The sky hasn't fallen, and doesn't look like falling any time soon.
The self-selected leaders of FOSS who have been scaremongering these past two years should be ashamed of themselves.
If the GPL3 wasn't being formulated around the same time, I doubt any of the FUD would have been generated - this would have been rightfully seen as just another partnership between companies.
Instead it was turned into a FUD-factory in an attempt to encourage GPL3 take-up.
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 13:10 UTC (Wed) by pboddie (subscriber, #50784) [Link]
"Instead it was turned into a FUD-factory"
As I recall, the FUD was coming from Microsoft: repeated claims about patent infringement and that they wouldn't litigate against anyone using a Linux distribution from a company partnering with them, leaving the impression that using or distributing a non-sanctioned distribution could result in a lawsuit. To claim that this is "just another partnership" is disingenuous.
The only people who should be ashamed are those who portray others as extremists whilst failing to understand how such matters can be damaging to Free Software and, given the continued threat of patent litigation, software in general.
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 20:20 UTC (Wed) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link]
It is correct, though, that the sky hasn't fallen, and that SUSE continues to make substantial contributions to the entire FLOSS tool chain. It is also not clear to me that the people originally at SUSE (now a Novell subsidiary) have all become secret agents of Microsoft. I would also guess that all sides know the risks involved in monetizing their most holy patent portfolios against the wider Linux community.
That said, I am still not a fan of Mono et al., all I am saying is, it's hard to forbid anyone to develop whatever they think they need to develop. Their problem. ("Mono" is a remarkable name for a project that contains contagious software patents. Why on earth did they choose the "kissing disease" to name their project?)
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 20, 2008 12:05 UTC (Thu) by epa (subscriber, #39769) [Link] "Mono" is a remarkable name for a project that contains contagious software patents.Can you cite any of these patents? The Mono project has a public commitment to remove any code that infringes software patents held by Microsoft or anyone else, so if you could give some examples you'll be doing everyone a favour.
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 21, 2008 8:52 UTC (Fri) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link]
Sorry. Allegedly. That should have been there, that is what I meant to write anyway. And the "alleged" has been around for a while.
I just always thought it odd that mono was chosen as a name especially for this project. Mono - a disease that is, by some popular accounts, transmitted by kissing and then takes half a year to go away? Very weird choice.
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 21, 2008 11:14 UTC (Fri) by epa (subscriber, #39769) [Link] Mono means monkey in Spanish.Really, I think it is blowing FUD to 'allege' patent infringement while giving no details of what those patents are. If anyone could cite the patents concerned, it would be a great help, because as Miguel said: The position of the Mono project has always been that we believe .Net includes a lot of innovation along with a good mix of well-known technology. So, if people found a patent infringement, we would take it out. If there's prior art, though, the patent is invalid. This is the way it is done in the open source world. A good example is Freetype. They discovered that they could not use a byte code interpreter for fonts, so they invented a different approach.(my italics)
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 21, 2008 14:39 UTC (Fri) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link]
It's only a weird choice if you're american and think all the world speaks USAsian slang. I had to google to find out you were talking about glandular fever..
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 20:45 UTC (Wed) by frazier (guest, #3060) [Link]
> As I recall, the FUD was coming from Microsoft: repeated claims about patent infringement and that they wouldn't litigate against anyone using a Linux distribution from a company partnering with them, leaving the impression that using or distributing a non-sanctioned distribution could result in a lawsuit.
They also use these as value themes in the moreinterop.com site, both in video and text. Here's an example (from http://www.moreinterop.com/Solutions.aspx ):
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 20:32 UTC (Wed) by BackSeat (subscriber, #1886) [Link] About 100 customers are covered by the Novell-Microsoft agreementAm I the only one that finds that magnificently underwhelming? Even if that were 100 big customers - and there's no indication that it is - that must represent an infinitesimal percentage of Microsoft customers that use some kind of Linux somewhere. BS
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 21:00 UTC (Wed) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]
It's about as exciting as the number of users of Oracle Linux, IIRC.
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 19, 2008 21:57 UTC (Wed) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link]
are the numbers of / revenue from SLES subscribers not published anywhere?
Anyway, if these are all big and reliable customers, such as investment banks or the automotive industry, why worry?
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 20, 2008 3:26 UTC (Thu) by tseaver (subscriber, #1544) [Link]
I'm enjoying the irony of your choice of industries there, at least
for the U.S.A., where we are actively debating / implementing bailouts for both of them.
Perhaps we should lobby our congresscritters to make adoption of FLOSS
The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) Posted Nov 20, 2008 7:20 UTC (Thu) by avik (subscriber, #704) [Link]
Why not making the right to vote conditional on the adoption of FLOSS as well? After all, both are all about choice.
And this IS why they are reliable customers, you know... Posted Nov 20, 2008 18:29 UTC (Thu) by khim (guest, #9252) [Link] I'm enjoying the irony of your choice of industries there, at least for the U.S.A., where we are actively debating / implementing bailouts for both of them. "Normal" businesses are not reliable customers: if it fails it fails. But if investment banks or the automotive industry fails government steps up and the customer is still out there (may be with different name, but it's not goes away).
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