RSSMicrosoft to Promote Linux: The Details
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published November 3, 2006, 2:13 AM
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Legally, what Novell and Microsoft accomplished on Thursday -- assuming they really did so, because their documents could come under review -- is achieve what many legal scholars have thought impossible, due to the oil-and-water differences between open source and proprietary software. The two companies' goal was to encourage customers to channel a virtualization path that leads through both Novell and Microsoft, with the enticement of escaping the threat of intellectual property litigation. But while Microsoft can indisputably speak for Windows, Novell cannot speak for Linux.
"To do that," Smith continued, "one of the things we fashioned was an approach that will ensure...that every customer who purchases a subscription, for example, for SUSE Enterprise Linux will get not only service and support from Novell, but will get as part of that, in effect, a patent covenant from Microsoft."
The covenant is a very slick, and from the new partners' perspective, hopefully legally defensible approach to Novell's representation problem. Steve Ballmer first alluded to the technical term for it, and later explained it in more depth:
"In a sense, I think of Novell as a proxy for the customers. Novell works with the open source community, so we needed to have a way to work with Novell that was respectful of the community. But nobody represents the community. On the other hand, our customers were saying, we want somebody to represent us in the use that we will make Linux. And customers weren't picky, they said, 'Find somebody who's in this game who really wants to get after it.'"
Red Hat was one consideration, which Ballmer kind of, sort of, virtually admitted, without naming the company specifically. But it was Novell that approached Microsoft with the idea of a partnership back in March of this year. "When I reached out to Steve [Ballmer] and Microsoft," said Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian, "it was a conversation about how we work together with our customers."
"We had discussions with lots of folks in the industry," added Ballmer. "You can probably guess a list of names...but it was really when Ron called and initiated a contact, because he's thinking about where he wanted to take Novell, that we were able to put together something that addressed the business issues, the patent issues, and the technology issues all at once."
It is this part of the agreement which may leave both Windows and Linux proponents absolutely breathless: It has to do with how the two parties will exchange monies, and for what purpose. "There's, of course, a little bit of economics involved, as there always are," Brad Smith began, knowing full well the size of the can of worms he's getting paid the big bucks to open.
"We dealt with the need for an up-front balancing payment that runs from Microsoft to Novell," Smith continued, "reflecting among other things the large relevant volume of the products that we have shipped. And you'll see, as well an economic commitment from Novell to Microsoft, that involves a running royalty, a percentage of revenue, on open-source software shipped under the agreement. So we've been able to sort out the economics, and in some ways, perhaps one of the most important things is, because we've been able to sort out the economics, Novell's customers don't have to."
In other words, Novell, acting as a proxy on behalf of its customers who might otherwise be subject to lawsuits, is paying Microsoft royalties for sales of SUSE Linux. Rather than haggle out the details of who owns what and who doesn't, the two companies have apparently decided that Microsoft indeed owns something, and has estimated the relative value of that something.
How much are we talking about? We don't know the percentages, though since Novell is a public company, we may be able to do the math ourselves in about a year's time. In the meantime, looking at Novell's last quarterly report, filed last August, the company reaped about $40 million of net revenue in its last fiscal quarter from the licensing of software.
That's not very much, which goes to show you that licensing isn't where the money is. However, the company earned about $238.3 million during the quarter from the service and maintenance of that same software. After expenses, gross profit came up to $173.9 million.
By contrast, Microsoft reported operating income for its last quarter at $4.4 billion. But owning a chunk of the Linux business is at least as valuable to Microsoft as the creation of a new and successful software product line. And since the lion's share of Linux revenue comes from the maintenance of software, not its sale, it only makes sense that if Microsoft is to earn a chunk of that, it participates in the actual job of maintenance.
Which is how Microsoft has become, to the likely amazement of many, a support provider for SUSE Enterprise Linux. Windows veterans may be wondering, why would anyone want Microsoft to provide technical and customer support for Linux (a certain oft-told helicopter joke comes to mind)? But for enterprise customers working on the virtualization problem, the prospect of dealing with two support sources may be just enough to keep the whole idea back-burnered. So while Novell will obviously be customers' primary support source, Microsoft is stepping up to add Linux support where it's needed.
Next: Microsoft will be paid royalties for future SUSE Linux innovations
After implanting spies, you release your own Linux Distribution. It's just like Qantas and Jetstar, Toyota and Lexus, etc...
Sometimes a company with expensive products would like to get action in the cheap products market too. It's a complicated game out there, and I'm sure they have ways to make money by just releasing an Express version of Windows OS and or their own Linux Distro (with all the spyware in the world bundled together) heheh
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|It's simple, you help your competitor's competitor so that it sends a ripple strong enough to disturb their competitor's progress.
Next step is to implant spies. :)
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|No matter how you look at this, one cannot help but remember the other MS "deals" that have gone south. I, for one, will be working on reinforcing my relationship with Redhat, who have certainly been making that harder the last few years. While we had been entertaining the possibility of switching to Suse, this partnership makes me question the long term viability of Suse.
Frankly, I give Novell about a month to back out of this deal or be relegated permanently to "has-been" status. The open source community looks poorly on those that violate the GPL, just ask Cisco.
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|might this be an age of window running running linux ?
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|Yet another Microsoft "Embrace and Extend" the
MS Borg will take over everything!
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|Good partnership.one ive been waiting for in a long while suse and windows.Now suse will have Ms rights, so redhat better beware !!
hope to see a linux distro in future called SuSEVista lol
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|"sharing a podium with their companies' respective logos"
Well, since when is Novell's company logo the Tux ? Right, it isn't. Neither Novell's, nor Suse's.
The rest... I've been fighting around regarding this at many forums so I'm not going to do it here, I'm tired.
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|I didn't see anything in that article about them promoting Linux. What's with the misleading and sensationalistic headlines?
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|However, we may hate Microsoft, no one can lvie in a world without Microsoft. Let's face it. They somehow make their way whether its Java or Linux.
As a customer, we will have to wait and watch to see what this agreement means to us. Does that mean more Linux PCs in the market, but sold at a price controlled by Microsoft?
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|well, it is said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
MS has a tiny flaw with pirating ideas of others.
But are spoil sports when their software is borrowed by others...
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|This is the dawning of the age of aquarius.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_aquarius
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|Yeah. Harmony, Peace, Love and Understanding.
The so-called "Age of Aquarius" is really working out well.
Maybe those terrorists who haven't caught up with it yet should head to San Francisco or somewhere like it where they still believe that garbage.
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|What a ridiculous headline! This is NOT promoting Linux, instead this is another effort at hobbling it so bad that it provides no competition for Microsoft. Anyone who thinks that no competition would be good, should take a look at the license terms that Microsoft tried to execute with Vista. Better yet, look at IE7, Had there not been healthy competition, Microsoft, by their own admission, would never have made improvements to IE.
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|How is microsoft promoting linux? its more like linux is getting big enough now in the corporate sector that not working correctly with windows boxes is starting to make companies have to choose between them. Windows would more then likely be the one going away when it gets to this point. Therefore microsoft came up with a solution. Even if your not using microsoft's os your still going to pay the "windows tax" even on a suse os.
So fancy headline, doesn't mean what it said. I mean isn't this what the EU has been forcing microsoft to do? Open up their api's to allow differen't os's to interact with windows in a server environment?
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|Wow, far reaching consequences and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
For one thing, Microsoft is positioning itself in a win-win situation, obvious. It must be sensing that Windows has serious limits and they have turned customers away to Apple. I predicted Windows will one day fall and Microsoft do something like what Apple did. Don't laugh, it might take years.
Now whatever the outcome, Microsoft regains strength by offering a bridge between Windows and Linux, by playing nice to show the anti-trust judges that they are playing fair and muscling on the last territory they had no say in, the Linux open source world.
As much as I don't care for them, this is brilliant and watch for Microsoft finding more ways to become a portal and draw more revenue from this. The plus side is will seriously force Linux to regroup and get it going ASAP. Also to watch for besides Red Hat, Debian, and IBM is Apple. How will they take that? Most likely by blurring the lines by converging everyting for media and more.
And all of this built from an ill-thought of miserable operating system! Proves to show, quality matters not when you put enough money in your PR department.
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|You download an MP3 and it is a crime. THIS is ONLY BUSSINESS?
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|OHHHH!!!!! BOY !!!! WHATTAHECK THEY´RE DOING WITH LINUX.NO MORE FREEDOM OS????????????
WHATTA A SHAME!!!!
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|This is just another example of how big business (capitalism) limits and hinders small businesses from succeeding.
As if Microsoft doesn't make enough money the way it is. What does this all mean? Will Microsoft follow suit and offer it's operating systems for free, while charging for the support of them?
I seriously doubt that. Instead, they'll do just what they've been doing for years. Charging for the licensing, AND charging for the support. Don't even get me started on Microsoft certifications, which are all controlled by Microsoft!
Novell has been in the game for years. Netware lost it's luster when Linux started booming. In the Linux community, you have two main providers that compete. Red Hat and Novell. It wasn't until Novell acquired the rights to Suse (check out Wikipedia's page) that they emerged victorious over the infamous SCO, who has also been in the Operating System game for years. I still remember the first SCO box I set up, when I was in the Marine Corps. I've been installing and maintaining Unix, Linux, and Windows based operating systems for years. I don't see any advantage to the customers and end users with this deal. All I see is, two multibillion dollar companies combining resources to make more money!
The whole reason why Linux was developed is to avoid the corporate control of the software patents and licensing. Now what was originally a brilliant idea by Linus Torvalds has developed into a method of control by big corporations.
When will we (all humans) learn that we should be combining our talents and work toward common goals for the improvement of the human race, not so the rich get richer while the poor get poorer!
If Microsoft and Novell were really concerned about humanity, they would have combined with Red Hat, Canonical, Mandriva, IBM (as in AIX) and SCO; and we wouldn't be dealing with this "who owns what" mentality that continues to hinder our technical progress!
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|Folks listen up M$ is not a technology company nor an innovator! M$ is a very powerful marketing company that sells the socks off every innovation they can buy. So where's the news? M$ has found another niche they can burrow into and make money while getting an inside track into the Open Source market.
Need I remind anyone of Networking (A.K.A Novell netware & subsequent introduction of Windows NT - Novell Terminator), WordPerfect, Netscape, Real Player, Media players, etc...
Let's get real folks M$ is blasting full steam ahead into the OSS market with a vengence!
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|Hmmmmm....that SCO case must just about be over.
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|"John Kerry bashing?" Oh dear, poor baby.
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|>>>"John Kerry bashing?" Oh dear, poor baby.
Oh...you noticed that too? John Kerry is only a victim of his own monumental ego.
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|all your base are belong to us. lol
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|OMG! Some of my hard-core Linux fanboy friends will die when they see that logo!
Seriously, if you cannot beat them--JOIN THEM! I hope and pray MS does not committ suicide by pulling the same stunt they did with IBM...the media wasn't big enough to care about it then, but if it happens today, news crews would smother Microsoft for it. I do believe Microsoft has learned some about the media since then, and likely will keep this deal beneficial for both parties for whatever they specifically agreed upon.
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|I don't know. Microsoft is very thick in gaging the intelligence of the public, either intentionally or not. Think how many times they come out with ridiculous licensing features only to get burned and have to change them. Maybe they think they are bigger than they are?
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|Prepare to be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological distinctives to our own. You will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.
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|You know, I was just thinking that the other day. The only difference is the Borg don't give the assimilatees a choices.
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|This is genius, would anyone actually expect Microsoft to sit on its laurels while there is a world of technology out there they barely even touch upon. Frankly MS is just one company attempting to expand its business, would people be so violently against the idea of this, if your neighborhood mom and pop electronics store merging with its competitor? I seriously doubt it. I revel in Microsoft’s accomplishment and encourage them to continue to live the success of an American Dream.
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|I run a preschool (50 families). I have Freebsd, Debian, mepis, & win98 (a teacher box(1st ed. yipes)) running.
I hope M$ will play nicer with *nix, so I can offer a larger variety of software.
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|Only time will tell what comes out of this step taken by Microsoft.
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|I am floored. Now its Rent-A-Windows\SUSE. Did the people that wrote Linux, Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Andrew Tanenbaum,and the thousands of Users that have contributed code to Linux,OpenSource,FSF, have even a say in this?
This is piracy of the highest degree, a System that works and was given to the world is now Patented by a Corporation.
The first volley has been fired, and it is aimed at every Internet Operateing System that wishes to remain free of Corporate Intrusion.
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|Dumb as hell.
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|I do not see this as any great stride as it has been possible thru VMWare to do this for years. What is new?? Great we get to do it with Microsofts Virtual Server (JUNK) and or with XEN, it is just not new worthy.
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|Hmmm, Microsoftie is feeling threatened by Apple's doubling marketshare? hahaha
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|Double market share? Are they past 3% in total users yet? One quarter of good sales does not mean market share has doubled.
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|hey. it was 1% before now it is 2%. double , you see?!
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|make it more 6.2% (Gartner) in the US.
Actually, more than double. And in Western Europe Gartner reports them as #1 vendor in Education. More than double their share there as well. Have .1 % more sales in education than HP and 1.2% more than Dell.
BTW, it is 6 Quarters in the row where they have double digit increase % of sales. Quarter after quarter.
In which planet have you spent the last year?
Moreover, in terms of total users Macs globally are above 10%. The above percentages are % of SALES not % of users. There are ~250M computers running in the world (Gartner) and Mac OS X only are above 20 million users. To this you have to add Mac users not yet switched to OS X. Very easy math.
Sheess, some people.
The majority of Windows installations are corporate customers, even terminals at airports. Do you count those as *users*? They are counted though in % of sales but hardly any user is behind those dumb terminals.
Lies, damn lies and statistics.
- Mark Twain
Think about how stupid the average person is; now realise half of them are dumber than that.
- George Carlin
Statistics can be misleading and sometimes deliberately distorting.
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|Moreover, in terms of total users Macs globally are above 10%. The above percentages are % of SALES not % of users. There are ~250M computers running in the world (Gartner) and Mac OS X only are above 20 million users. To this you have to add Mac users not yet switched to OS X. Very easy math.
Most OS web stats place Mac usage at between 3.5 and 4%. So claiming a 10% user base is a bit of a stretch.
It's also not surprising thet the Mac has had such a climb in sales, given the pent up demand for the Intel-based units. Given that Vista has been delayed for so long, I really expected them to do a little better.
The majority of Windows installations are corporate customers, even terminals at airports. Do you count those as *users*? They are counted though in % of sales but hardly any user is behind those dumb terminals.
So what you're saying is, that users in corporate environmments shouldn't be counted? Yes, I can see how that would be convenient in for the Mac, since it has neglible corporate penetration.
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|Promote? I'd rather say destroy to eliminate disidents.
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|Come on, you guys - this is not "PROMOTING Linux", it's just a move to make even more money. I wonder what kind of "journalism" this is . . .
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|Microsoft wants a slice of the Linux pie. Or as the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
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|If Microsoft gets it's hands on Linux, how long will it be before Linux becomes fat, unstable bloatware?
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|What a crock. Just more of the same bullying by Microsoft. Check-out the suffix on the author of this drivel's name ... the "111" ... may as well be prefixed with "Biff". Let MS sue other open-source coders. Especially after obviously and intentionally surrendering their right to defend their IP rights so selectively in an obvious attempt to manipulate the application of existing laws. Good luck with that. Ubuntu!
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