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RAV TUX
November 23rd, 2006, 11:13 PM
Microsoft-Novell Pact Is Already in Dispute

By STEVE LOHR (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/steve_lohr/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: November 22, 2006
Less than three weeks after they reached an accord hailed as proof that rival software companies could work together, the chief executives of Novell (http://www.nytimes.com/redirect/marketwatch/redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=NOVL) and Microsoft (http://www.nytimes.com/redirect/marketwatch/redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=MSFT) are engaged in an unusual public dispute.
The pact was seen as an affirmation of the importance of Linux, an open-source competitor to Microsoft’s Windows operating system, and of the need to satisfy corporate customers who want to run both Windows and Novell’s variety of Linux in their data centers.
Explaining the agreement at a software developers’ conference in Seattle last week, Steven A. Ballmer (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/steven_a_ballmer/index.html?inline=nyt-per), Microsoft’s chief executive, said it “appropriately compensated Microsoft” because Linux “uses our patented intellectual property.”
On Monday, Ron Hovsepian, Novell’s chief executive, shot back with an “open letter” that declared, “Some parties have spoken about this patent agreement in a damaging way, and with a perspective that we do not share.” He added, “Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property.”
Microsoft replied with a news release Monday evening, saying the companies “have agreed to disagree.”
Yet the terms of engagement between Microsoft and Linux promise to become an even greater source of controversy. The general counsel of the Free Software Foundation, which holds the license to Linux, yesterday called on Microsoft to alter its pledge not to file patent-infringement suits against customers who use Novell’s version of Linux, called SuSe Linux. He said the pledge should be extended to all Linux users or to none.
That point was a crucial part of the Microsoft-Novell pact, which also included joint technology development and marketing programs.
The deal was also regarded as a way for Microsoft to try to undermine its leading open source competitor, Red Hat (http://www.nytimes.com/redirect/marketwatch/redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=RHAT), whose customers would not enjoy the same patent pledge as Novell customers.
Preferential treatment for one distributor or group of developers of Linux over others is something the new version of the Linux software license, which is nearly complete, will seek to prohibit, said Eben Moglen, general counsel of the Free Software Foundation.
“This deal raises important questions,” said Mr. Moglen, who is a law professor at Columbia University (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/columbia_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org), “and it is not going to work well under the new license.”
The new version, the General Public License 3.0, is in the final public comment stage, and is scheduled to become effective next March. A major aim of the license revision is to deal with the spread of software patents, and patent lawsuits, in recent years. And the new license will almost certainly make it difficult for companies to make selective patent pledges to some Linux distributors, developers and users, and not to others, Mr. Moglen said.
He said the concern was that Microsoft could use such patent promises as a competitive weapon to undermine companies who are rivals or to threaten independent Linux software developers.
“Microsoft should take back the patent promise to Novell customers or extend the promise of patent safety to everyone, not just Novell customers,” he said.
Microsoft has not previously made an issue of patent claims against Linux companies or developers. And while Mr. Ballmer’s assertion last week that Linux code includes Microsoft’s intellectual property may be his personal belief, it is not been reflected in the company’s strategy — at least not so far.
In an interview after the Novell deal, Bradford L. Smith, the general counsel of Microsoft, pointed to the agreement as an example of the “new intellectual property paradigms” that would be needed so that corporations and consumers could more easily use all kinds of technology, from open-source and proprietary software to digital music and video in different formats.
The different technologies and businesses will remain different, Mr. Smith said, but rigid intellectual property rules should not prevent them from working together. “What’s needed are bridges, not walls,” he said.
In its statement on Monday, Microsoft said, “Both of our companies are fully committed to moving forward with all of the important work under these agreements.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/technology/22soft.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

s_h_a_d_o_w_s
November 24th, 2006, 12:34 AM
Wait how is Linux infringing on Microsucks patents? I don't get it

ComplexNumber
November 24th, 2006, 12:43 AM
Wait how is Linux infringing on Microsucks patents? I don't get it
simple answer: its not. ever heard of FUD and scare tactics against using the linux platform?

RAV TUX
November 24th, 2006, 01:14 AM
simple answer: its not. ever heard of FUD and scare tactics against using the linux platform?

further realized in the article:


Mr. Ballmer’s assertion last week that Linux code includes Microsoft’s intellectual property may be his personal belief, it is not been reflected in the company’s strategy — at least not so far.

Tobster
November 24th, 2006, 01:39 AM
Red hat is know longer the biggest distro out there outside of Windows. The big three in order are:

Ubuntu
SUSE
Fedora Core

then follows:

Free BSD

Correct me if im wrong.

ComplexNumber
November 24th, 2006, 01:51 AM
Red hat is know longer the biggest distro out there outside of Windows. The big three in order are:

Ubuntu
SUSE
Fedora Core

then follows:

Free BSD

Correct me if im wrong.
what makes you think that? also, biggest in terms of what?

darkhatter
November 24th, 2006, 03:04 AM
Red hat is know longer the biggest distro out there outside of Windows. The big three in order are:

Ubuntu
SUSE
Fedora Core

then follows:

Free BSD

Correct me if im wrong.

;) I think you've had enough, pass it to the right-hand side. Its still Red Hat and Novell.

RAV TUX
November 24th, 2006, 05:24 AM
Red hat is know longer the biggest distro out there outside of Windows. The big three in order are:

Ubuntu
SUSE
Fedora Core

then follows:

Free BSD

Correct me if im wrong.

not sure where you are getting your information from, also I am not sure what you are trying to say...

JoeC21
November 24th, 2006, 05:43 AM
Red hat is know longer the biggest distro out there outside of Windows. The big three in order are:

Ubuntu
SUSE
Fedora Core

then follows:

Free BSD

Correct me if im wrong.

In terms of the actual numbers of users each distro has then this is probably and accurate statement, except for FreeBSD. I believe there are still several linux distros with more users than FreeBSD. But the corporate/business world is still dominated by Red Hat, with novell having a decent but small percent.

Cynical
November 24th, 2006, 05:43 AM
Interesting... (http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/index.php?p=206)

grte
November 24th, 2006, 06:11 AM
In terms of the actual numbers of users each distro has then this is probably and accurate statement, except for FreeBSD. I believe there are still several linux distros with more users than FreeBSD. But the corporate/business world is still dominated by Red Hat, with novell having a decent but small percent.

Yup. Ubuntu is killing the desktop linux market, but that market is quite small. Red Hat and SuSE have bigger slices of the enterprise pie, and that's where linux actually has some heft.

Big fish in a small pond versus moderately sized fish in an ocean, basically.

Bezmotivnik
November 24th, 2006, 07:40 AM
One more time: Exactly what does MS claim to own in Linux?

A link is fine.

Thanks...

Radiera
November 24th, 2006, 08:43 AM
That's what you get when you make pacts with the devil. He gives you the illusion that you actually did something good, then he slowly and gently sticks his d**k in your ******e! Wait 'till he starts to push!

cantormath
November 24th, 2006, 08:56 AM
Yup. Ubuntu is killing the desktop linux market, but that market is quite small. Red Hat and SuSE have bigger slices of the enterprise pie, and that's where linux actually has some heft.

Big fish in a small pond versus moderately sized fish in an ocean, basically.

LINUX and UNIX dominates the server and military/government market. The only place left for linux/unix to go is into the desktop market. And with spyware and virus issues crippling Microsoft, I believe linux/unix will have its day. I think what will get us there is sticking together, Meaning, no one should speak poorly about one distribution or the other. Instead we should focus on just getting everyone to use linux in the desktop community.

Shay Stephens
November 24th, 2006, 09:49 AM
One more time: Exactly what does MS claim to own in Linux?

A link is fine.

Thanks...

That's the problem, they aren't saying. They just hang it out there as a fear tactic.

darkhatter
November 24th, 2006, 06:00 PM
Market Share, and Large user base is not the same. Market share means you get money from the users, User base means you have alot of people leeching servers. btw I thought Ubuntu was moving into the server market

dca
November 24th, 2006, 06:12 PM
On enterprise servers in the US, Fedora Core is huge... (No need paying for RHEL when you have good admins)

I read somewhere that Linux has 60% - 70% market share on the internet server side world-wide also...


I never much understood a company paying in the thousands for M$ server license(s) when Linux (IMHO) is superior.

mips
November 24th, 2006, 07:00 PM
I read somewhere that Linux has 60% - 70% market share on the internet server side world-wide also...


I always though FreeBSD had a bigger web server base than Linux.

dca
November 24th, 2006, 07:27 PM
Don't know, don't think so... FreeBSD didn't really take hold until around 2000 and only because of Linux' success. I'm sure part of it has to do with the *BSD side being somewhat quiet, no big announcements, no Ubuntu-style distro to make people go nuts. Not to mention, there's not really much support for it. Linux on the other hand has support from: Oracle, RH, IBM, tons of others. I think Google used to use it (*BSD) and also Hotmail before M$ got involved.

Tobster
March 19th, 2007, 05:44 PM
In popularity, Distro Watch keep a record of how many people visit each Distribution's web site and by other mean. Distro Watch is like the Nelson TV ratings of the Linux world.

Toby