RSSMicrosoft to Promote Linux: The Details
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published November 3, 2006, 2:13 AM
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Before one concludes Microsoft is purely doing this out of the goodness of its heart, it should take a serious look at a very key provision of the agreement which Brad Smith introduced, concerning the patent covenant: "The covenant that will run...from Microsoft to customers applies to the code and the patent issues in SUSE Linux as it exists today, and as it's distributed and purchased by Novell customers, and we are putting in place something that's forward-looking as well."
In other words, there either are or will be provisions that may entitle Microsoft to royalties from components that are added to SUSE Linux in the future, and not necessarily from Novell.
Here's the catch, as Smith explained it: "Microsoft today is making two, I think, important commitments or promises to different groups of developers in the open source community. The first is a promise that we won't assert our patents against individual, non-commercial, open source developers. Who are these? These are individuals who are creating code, contributing code, they're not being paid for that code - they're often working in the evenings, or at home. They're not creating it as part of their job, but they're acting in an individual, non-commercial way."
"The second thing we did in this area," Smith continued, "was add a promise that goes even to developers that are getting paid to create code to OpenSUSE.org, code that Novell then takes and incorporates into its distribution, and that is then covered under the patent cooperation agreement between us. Because after all, Novell is ensuring that our patent rights are respected in an appropriate way, and that gives us the ability to address the needs and interests of those individuals."
In short, it won't matter to Microsoft whether future additions to SUSE Linux from the open source community infringe upon its IP portfolio. It won't matter because it's getting paid for them anyway.
This payment enables Microsoft to withdraw the axe that has hung over enterprise Linux customers concerning possible patent infringement. It no longer has to retain the option of seeking redress using those means. In so doing, Microsoft actually makes SUSE Enterprise Linux more attractive to customers.
As part of its new promotional efforts to that end, Microsoft is adopting a clear carrot-and-stick approach. The "carrot" comes in the form of up to 70,000 coupons that will be issued to Microsoft customers, good toward the purchase of SUSE Enterprise Linux.
The "stick" comes in the form of Microsoft's indication to Linux customers that the IP axe still hangs over customers who choose a brand other than Novell. CEO Steve Ballmer made that point indisputably clear:
"Novell's acting as a proxy for its customers," he said, "and only for its customers, so this does not apply to any forms of Linux other than Novell's SUSE Linux. And if people want to have patent peace and interoperability, they'll look at Novell SUSE Linux; if they make other choices, they have all of the compliance and intellectual property issues that are associated with that."
"Microsoft is announcing that they are not going to assert patent infringement claims against individual open source developers," repeated Novell's CTO, Jeff Jaffe. "So that's really, really important for open source. Open source is, in many ways, the innovation engine of the entire IT industry, and now, this statement just makes that so much stronger and so much more important."
Not only is it important, it's extremely clever. Microsoft has negotiated a way for itself to reap the benefits of participation in the Linux market through virtualization, with not very much effort - in fact, with a promise that effort will not be expended to defend itself. Now, not only does Microsoft offer a clear interoperability option -- flying in the face of opponents like Red Hat and IBM, who continue to argue against Microsoft before the European Commission -- but one that may have a built-in guarantee of desirability by those opponents' own customers.
Beginning now, the entire chemistry of the debate over Linux and Windows changes. While customers on both sides had previously elevated the debate to something more about virtue and righteousness than performance and cost, the fact of Novell's and Microsoft's new-found interoperability, both in technical and business terms, deflates those lofty arguments somewhat.
At least one dark lord and one white knight (the identities for which depend on the charisma of their respective allies) have shaken hands and made up. From here on, the battle for operating system dominance among servers becomes more practical, clinical, pragmatic. With dramatic flair, a great deal of the drama itself has been vanquished. In its place will come a myriad of questions, much less about whose side you're on, as much as whether the information technology business can finally start to make some sense again.
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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